A Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial to Determine the Impact of Digestion Resistant Starch on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance in Elderly and Mid-Age Adults.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has reached epidemic proportions in North America. Recent evidence suggests that prebiotics can modulate the gut microbiome, which then plays an important role in regulating lipid metabolism, blood glucose, and insulin sensitivity. As such, prebiotics are appealing potential therapeutic strategies for prediabetes and T2D.

A randomized trial to determine the impact of a digestion resistant starch composition on the gut microbiome in older and mid-age adults.

Background: The elderly often have a diet lacking resistant starch (RS) which is thought to lead to gut microbiome dysbiosis that may result in deterioration of gut colonocytes.

Objective: The primary objective was to assess if elderly (ELD; ≥ 70 years age) had microbiome dysbiosis compared to mid-age (MID; 30-50 years age) adults and then determine the impact of daily consumption of MSPrebiotic (a RS) or placebo over 3 months on gut microbiome composition. Secondary objectives included assessment of stool short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and inflammatory markers in ELD and MID Canadian adults.

Pets are 'risky business' for patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

The authors report the first case in Manitoba of a patient undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis who experienced three successive infections with Pasteurella multocida and Capnocytophaga species over an eight-month period. These zoonotic infections were believed to originate from contact with the patient's household pets. To prevent such infections, the authors recommend the development and implementation of hygiene guidelines outlining the risks associated with owning domestic pets for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients.

Comparison of clinically relevant benchmarks and channel sampling methods used to assess manual cleaning compliance for flexible gastrointestinal endoscopes.

Background: The objectives of this study were to recommend sample collection method(s) based on relative soiling in patient-used gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopes and determine whether the published benchmarks for protein, bioburden, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) remain relevant for pump-assisted manual cleaning.

Methods: Patient-used gastroscopes, duodenoscopes, and colonoscopes were sampled before and after manual cleaning and assessed for protein, bioburden, and ATP levels. The biopsy port (BP) to distal end (D) sample was collected using 20 mL of sterile reverse-osmosis water.

CHROMagar Orientation medium reduces urine culture workload.

Microbiology laboratories continually strive to streamline and improve their urine culture algorithms because of the high volumes of urine specimens they receive and the modest numbers of those specimens that are ultimately considered clinically significant. In the current study, we quantitatively measured the impact of the introduction of CHROMagar Orientation (CO) medium into routine use in two hospital laboratories and compared it to conventional culture on blood and MacConkey agars. Based on data extracted from our Laboratory Information System from 2006 to 2011, the use of CO medium resulted in a 28% reduction in workload for additional procedures such as Gram stains, subcultures, identification panels, agglutination tests, and biochemical tests.

Alkaline detergent combined with a routine ward bedpan washer disinfector cycle eradicates Clostridium difficile spores from the surface of plastic bedpans.

The cleaning efficiency of a ward bedpan washer disinfector was evaluated using various cycle parameters and detergent to determine which conditions could effectively eliminate Clostridium difficile spores from the surface of bedpans. Results revealed that the regular intensive cycle with thermal conditions of 85°C for 60 seconds plus the addition of an alkaline detergent was sufficient to eradicate C difficile spores. However, these thermal conditions alone, without detergent, were not adequate.