Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 8 Articles
Six years old buffalo was presented to the clinic with history of abortion at fourth month gestation. Up on clinical examination buffalo had fever, anorexia, bilateral ocular discharges, respiratory distress and emaciation. Laboratory examination of blood revealed presence of trypanosomes in the peripheral blood smears. Buffalo was treated with diminazine aceturate along with fluid and supportive therapy. Abortion might be due to hypoglycemia developed by the Trypanosoma evansi infection in this buffalo....
Background: Smoking has been identified in observational studies as a risk factor for bacterial vaginosis (BV), a\ncondition defined in part by decimation of Lactobacillus spp. The anti-estrogenic effect of smoking and trace\namounts of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE) may predispose women to BV. BPDE increases bacteriophage\ninduction in Lactobacillus spp. and is found in the vaginal secretions of smokers. We compared the vaginal\nmicrobiota between smokers and non-smokers and followed microbiota changes in a smoking cessation pilot study.\nMethods: In 2010ââ?¬â??2011, 20 smokers and 20 non-smokers were recruited to a cross-sectional study (Phase A) and 9\nsmokers were enrolled and followed for a 12-week smoking cessation program (Phase B). Phase B included weekly\nbehavioral counseling and nicotine patches to encourage smoking cessation. In both phases, participants self-collected\nmid-vaginal swabs (daily, Phase B) and completed behavioral surveys. Vaginal bacterial composition was characterized\nby pyrosequencing of barcoded 16S rRNA genes (V1-V3 regions). Vaginal smears were assigned Nugent Gram stain\nscores. Smoking status was evaluated (weekly, Phase B) using the semi-quantitative NicAlertÃ?® saliva cotinine test and\ncarbon monoxide (CO) exhalation.\nResults: In phase A, there was a significant trend for increasing saliva cotinine and CO exhalation with elevated Nugent\nscores (P value <0.005). Vaginal microbiota clustered into three community state types (CSTs); two dominated by\nLactobacillus (L. iners, L. crispatus), and one lacking significant numbers of Lactobacillus spp. and characterized by\nanaerobes (termed CST-IV). Women who were observed in the low-Lactobacillus CST-IV state were 25-fold more likely\nto be smokers than those dominated by L. crispatus (aOR: 25.61, 95 % CI: 1.03-636.61). Four women completed Phase\nB. One of three who entered smoking cessation with high Nugent scores demonstrated a switch from CST-IV to a\nL.iners-dominated profile with a concomitant drop in Nugent scores which coincided with completion of nicotine\npatches. The other two women fluctuated between CST-IV and L. iners-dominated CSTs. The fourth woman had low\nNugent scores with L. crispatus-dominated CSTs throughout.\nConclusion: Smokers had a lower proportion of vaginal Lactobacillus spp. compared to non-smokers. Smoking cessation\nshould be investigated as an adjunct to reducing recurrent BV. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings...
Background: Presence of capsule enhances the virulence of bacteria that cause pneumonia, meningitis, cystic\nfibrosis, dental caries, periodontitis. Capsule is an important virulence factor for Klebsiella pneumoniae and infections\ndue to this pathogen have been associated with high mortality rates. In the present study, use of an Aeromonas\npunctata derived capsule depolymerase against K. pneumoniae, to reinstate the efficacy of gentamicin during\npneumonia and septicemia was investigated.\nMethods: Depolymerase was administered in mice intraperitoneally (50 ?g) alone as well in combination with\ngentamicin (1.5 mg/kg), 24 h post infection during acute lung infection and 6 h later during septicemia. Bacterial\nload, neutrophil infiltration and cytokine levels were estimated. The immunogenicity of protein was also studied.\nResults: In comparison to groups treated with gentamicin alone, combination treatment with depolymerase and\ngentamicin significantly reduced (P < 0.01) bacterial titer in the lungs, liver, kidney, spleen and blood of\nexperimental animals. Highly significant reduction in neutrophil infiltration and levels of pro-inflammatory and\nanti-inflammatory cytokines was also observed. This indicated an efficient capsule removal by the enzyme, that\nimproved gentamicin efficacy in vivo. Although the enzyme was found to be immunogenic, but no significant\nreduction in treatment efficacy was observed in the preimmunized as well as naÃ?¯ve mice. In addition, as confirmed\nthrough flow cytometry, the hyperimmune sera raised against the enzyme did not neutralize its activity.\nConclusion: The results confirm that administration of enzyme ââ?¬Ë?depolymeraseââ?¬â?¢ along with gentamicin not only\nchecked the virulence of K. pneumoniae in vivo but it also increased its susceptibility to gentamicin at a lower\nconcentration. Such a strategy would help to avoid exposure to higher concentration of gentamicin. Moreover, since\nthis decapsulating protein does not possess a lytic activity therefore there would be no chances of development of\nbacterial resistance against it. Therefore, it should be studied further for its successful inclusion in our prophylactic/\ntherapeutic regimes....
Background: High HTLV-1 proviral load (PVL) is mainly found in infected individuals with HTLV-1-associated\nmyelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). However one third of asymptomatic carriers may have high PVL.\nThis study aimed to evaluate the impact of PVL in the activation of T lymphocytes of asymptomatic individuals\ninfected with HTLV-1.\nMethods: Membrane activation markers (CD25+, CD28+, CD45RO+, CD69+, CD62L+, HLA-DR+), FoxP3+ and intracellular\nIFN-? expression were evaluated on both CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes from asymptomatic carriers with PVL ?\nand < 1% of infected cells, using flow cytometry. HTLV-1 proviral load was determined using real-time PCR.\nResults: Asymptomatic carriers with PVL ? 1% presented a higher frequency of CD4+CD25+CD45RO+ (13.2% vs. 4%,\np = 0.02), CD4+HLA-DR+ (18% vs. 8.3%, p = 0.01) and CD4+IFN-?+ (4.5%; 1%, p = 0.01) T-cells, than healthy donors.\nHTLV-1 PVL was directly correlated with the proportion of CD4+CD25+CD45RO+ T-cells (R = 0.7, p = 0.003). Moreover, a\nsignificant increase in the proportion of CD4 + FoxP3+ T-cells was observed in HTLV-1-infected individuals, compared\nto healthy donors.\nConclusion: HTLV-1 PVL is associated with activation of both CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes in asymptomatic\nindividuals. Prospective studies should be conducted to evaluate whether asymptomatic individuals with higher PVL\nand high immune activation are more prone to developing HTLV-1-associated diseases....
Background: In this study, we defined the population biology of serogroup 6 Streptococcus pneumoniae collected\nin China and their antibiotic resistance profiles.\nMethods: The serotypes of 225 S. pneumoniae strains isolated between 1997 and 2011 were identified with the\nQuellung reaction and serotype-specific PCR. All isolated pneumococci were tested for their sensitivity to 11 kinds\nof antibiotics with the E-test method or disc diffusion. The sequence types (STs) were analyzed with multilocus\nsequence typing (MLST).\nResults: The frequencies of serotypes and subtypes 6A, 6B-I, 6B-II, 6C, and 6D among the 225 isolates were 46.7%\n(105/225), 19.6% (44/225), 25.8% (58/225), 6.2% (14/225), and 1.8% (4/225), respectively. Serotype 6E was not found\nin the serotype 6A isolates, and neither serotype 6F nor 6G was identified in any isolate. MLST analysis revealed\n58 STs. The most common STs were ST982 (23.1%), ST90 (14.7%), ST4542 (7.6%), and ST2912 (4.9%). The rates of clonal\ncomplex 90 (CC90) and CC386 among the oral-penicillin-nonsusceptible isolates decreased over the years, whereas the\nrates of CC855 and CC3173 increased. The four CCs had similar penicillin MIC distributions, with a maximum MIC of\n2 ?g/ml.\nConclusions: This study identified the serotypes/subtypes and CCs/STs of group 6 S. pneumoniae present in China. No\nsalient antibiotic-resistant clones were isolated among the serogroup 6 S. pneumoniae....
Background: Bacterial peritonitis is serious disease and remains a diagnostic challenge for clinicians. Many studies\nhave highlighted the potential usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) for identification of bacterial peritonitis, however,\nthe overall diagnostic value of PCT remains unclear. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the accuracy\nof PCT for detection of bacterial peritonitis.\nMethods: We performed a systematic searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, China Biology Medicine Database\n(CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI) and Cochrane databases for trials that evaluated\nthe diagnostic role of PCT for bacterial peritonitis. Sensitivity, specificity and other measures of accuracy of PCT\nwere pooled using bivariate random effects models.\nResults: Eighteen studies involving 1827 patients were included in the present meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity\nand specificity of serum PCT for the diagnosis bacterial peritonitis were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.76ââ?¬â??0.89) and 0.92 (95% CI:\n0.87ââ?¬â??0.96), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio was 11.06 (95% CI: 6.31ââ?¬â??19.38), negative likelihood ratio was\n0.18 (95% CI: 0.12ââ?¬â??0.27) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 61.52 (95% CI: 27.58ââ?¬â??137.21). The area under the\nreceiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was 0.94. Use of a common PCT cut-off value could improve the\nDOR to 75.32 and the AUROC to 0.95. Analysis of the seven studies that measured serum C-reactive protein (CRP)\nindicated that PCT was more accurate than CRP for the diagnosis of bacterial peritonitis.\nConclusions: Our results indicate that PCT determination is a relatively sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis\nof bacterial peritonitis. However, with regard to methodological limitations and significant heterogeneity, medical\ndecisions should be based on both clinical findings and PCT test results....
Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is usually complicated by high rates of tuberculosis\n(TB) co-infection. Impaired immune response has been reported during HIV/TB co-infection and may have\nsignificant effect on anti-retroviral therapy (ART). TB/HIV co - infection is a major public health problem in Ethiopia.\nTherefore, the aim of the study was to assess the effect of TB incidence on immunological response of HIV patients\nduring ART.\nMethods: A retrospective follow-up study was conducted among adult HIV patients who started ART at the University\nof Gondar Hospital. Changes in CD4+ T - lymphocyte count and incident TB episodes occurring during 42 months of\nfollow up on ART were assessed. Life table was used to estimate the cumulative immunologic failure. Kaplan-Meier\ncurve was used to compare survival curves between the different categories. Cox-proportional hazard model was\nemployed to examine predictors of immunological failure.\nResults: Among 400 HIV patients, 89(22.2%) were found to have immunological failure with a rate of 8.5 per 100\nperson-years (PY) of follow-up. Incident TB developed in 26(6.5%) of patients, with an incidence rate of 2.2 cases per\n100 PY. The immunological failure rate was high (20.1/100PY) at the first year of treatment. At multivariate analysis, Cox\nregression analysis showed that baseline CD4+ T - cell count <100 cells/mm3 (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 1.8; 95%CI:\n1.10 - 2.92, p = 0.023) and being male sex (AHR 1.6; 95%CI: 1.01 - 2.68, p = 0.046) were found to be significant predictors\nof immunological failure. There was borderline significant association with incident TB (AHR 2.2; 95%CI: 0.94 - 5.09,\np = 0.06). The risk of immunological failure was significantly higher (38.5%) among those with incident TB compared\nwith TB - free (21.1%) (Log rank p = 0.036).\nConclusions: High incidence of immunological failure occurred within the first year of initiating ART. The proportions\nof patients with impaired immune restoration were higher among patients with incident TB. Lower baseline CD4+\nT - cells count of <100 cells/mm3 and being male sex were significant predictors of immunological failure. The result\nhighlighted the beneficial effects of earlier initiation of ART on CD4+ T - cell count recovery....
Stomach tumour in gold-spot mullet (Liza parsia) first time was recorded in India. The visceral organs like, intestine, spleen, liver and ovaries were entirely fused by tumour tissue, the tumour weight was 97.6 g length and width was 7.9 cm and 4.2 cm respectively, ovary not mature, eggs were absent, liquid content present in the entire ovary. The histopathology to been evidence of stomach tumour it occurred small granular cells in tissues, which was totally differed from normal stomach tissue additionally the granular cells occurred in intestinal tissue. Mass of hepatocytic cells present in liver tissue. The tumour was diagnosed as gastrinoma with unknown etiology....
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