Successful treatment of Candida albicans osteomyelitis of the spine with fluconazole and surgical debridement: case report.

A 65-year old diabetic male presented with progressive bone destruction of thoracic spine (T-11&12) with cord compression. Candida albicans was isolated from aspirated materials pre-and intra-operative. Two weeks of fluconazole was given prior to surgical debridement, and fixation of the lesion.

Seroreactivities against Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis p35 and p36 antigens in Crohn's disease patients.

Crohn's disease (CD) is an idiopathic chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Accurate diagnosis of the disease is of great clinical importance to assess its prognosis and success of therapy. Recent studies have validated and confirmed the potential utility of anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast; ASCA) IgG/IgA antibodies and anti-M.

In situ identification of mycobacteria in Crohn's disease patient tissue using confocal scanning laser microscopy.

The diversity in the methodology employed to investigate Crohn's disease (CD) etiology has added significantly to the controversy of the mycobacterial role in this chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP), a proposed and suspected agent in many CD patients, is a fastidious and very slow grower bacillus, which causes Johne's disease (JD) in cattle. The methodology that has been widely and successfully used for isolation and identification of MAP from and in JD animals is not reliable and has proven to be unsuccessful in achieving the same objectives for CD diagnosis.

Open clinical trial of rifabutin and clarithromycin therapy in Crohn's disease.

Background: Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease in humans, has a suspected aetiology of Mycobacterium avium subsp. Paratuberculosis.

Aims: To evaluate the role of rifabutin and clarithromycin anti-Mycobacterium avium subsp.

DNA sequence analysis of rdxA and frxA from 12 pairs of metronidazole-sensitive and -resistant clinical Helicobacter pylori isolates.

We previously reported that inactivation of rdxA and/or frxA converted Helicobacter pylori from metronidazole sensitive to metronidazole resistant. To examine the individual roles of rdxA and frxA in the development of metronidazole resistance in H. pylori, we examined the status of rdxA and frxA from 12 pairs of metronidazole-sensitive and -resistant H.

Etiology of Crohn's disease: the role of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by transmural inflammation and granuloma formation. Several theories regarding the etiology of Crohn's disease have been proposed, one of which is infection with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (M. paratuberculosis), which causes a similar disease in animals, and is present in the human food chain.

Detection of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in Crohn's diseased tissues by in situ hybridization.

Objectives: Reports about the association between Crohn's disease (CD) and cell wall-deficient (CWD) forms of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (M. paratuberculosis) are controversial. This may be due to the heterogeneous nature of CD where only about 50% of the patients show granulomatous inflammation.

Analysis of metronidazole, clarithromycin and tetracycline resistance of Helicobacter pylori isolates from Korea.

Antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori varies according to geographical region. We studied the primary resistance rates among 652 H. pylori isolated from Korea in relation to collection date, disease presentation, age and gender.

Review article: Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis as one cause of Crohn's disease.

A number of theories regarding the aetiology of Crohn's disease have been proposed. Diet, infections, other unidentified environmental factors and immune disregulation, all working under the influence of a genetic predisposition, have been viewed with suspicion. Many now believe that Crohn's disease is a syndrome caused by several aetiologies.

Furazolidone- and nitrofurantoin-resistant Helicobacter pylori: prevalence and role of genes involved in metronidazole resistance.

The prevalence of furazolidone, nitrofurantoin, and metronidazole resistance among Helicobacter pylori strains was assessed with 431 clinical isolates. Fifty-two percent were metronidazole resistant, compared to 2% (7 of 431) with resistance to furazolidone and nitrofurantoin. All seven furazolidone- and nitrofurantoin-resistant isolates were also metronidazole resistant.

In situ hybridization method for studies of cell wall deficient M. paratuberculosis in tissue samples.

Cell wall deficient forms of mycobacteria may be important in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease and sarcoidosis. However, no method has been available to localize this type of organisms in tissue sections. We developed an in situ hybridization method for the demonstration of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis spheroplasts (cell wall deficient forms) in paraffin embedded tissue sections.

Specific seroreactivity of Crohn's disease patients against p35 and p36 antigens of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that is similar to Johne's disease in ruminants. Recent data have strengthened the association of M. avium subsp.

Isolation and characterization of tetracycline-resistant clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori.

Tetracycline is an important component of combination therapies for Helicobacter pylori eradication. Twenty-nine tetracycline-resistant isolates requiring MICs ranging from 4 to 16 microgram/ml were isolated from Korean (22 of 460) and Japanese (7 of 105) patients. Interestingly, all of the 29 tetracycline-resistant isolates exhibited cross-resistance to metronidazole, and the cross-resistance was transferred to tetracycline-sensitive H.

Identification of cell wall deficient forms of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in paraffin embedded tissues from animals with Johne's disease by in situ hybridization.

M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis (M.

Characterization of IS900 loci in Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and development of multiplex PCR typing.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is a pathogen that causes chronic inflammation of the intestine in many animals, including primates, and is implicated in Crohn's disease in humans. It differs from other members of the M.

Frame-shift mutations in NAD(P)H flavin oxidoreductase encoding gene (frxA) from metronidazole resistant Helicobacter pylori ATCC43504 and its involvement in metronidazole resistance.

Metronidazole is a critical ingredient for combination therapies of Helicobacter pylori infection, the major cause of peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. It has been recently reported that metronidazole resistance from H. pylori ATCC43504 is caused by the insertion of a mini-IS605 sequence and deletion of sequences in an oxygen insensitive NAD(P)H nitroreductase encoding gene (rdxA).

Regional differences in metronidazole resistance and increasing clarithromycin resistance among Helicobacter pylori isolates from Japan.

The patterns of antibiotic resistance in Helicobacter pylori were assessed in two different regions in Japan. Overall, prevalences of resistance to metronidazole and clarithromycin were 12.4 and 12.

Analysis of rdxA and involvement of additional genes encoding NAD(P)H flavin oxidoreductase (FrxA) and ferredoxin-like protein (FdxB) in metronidazole resistance of Helicobacter pylori.

Metronidazole (Mtz) is a critical ingredient of modern multidrug therapies for Helicobacter pylori infection. Mtz resistance reduces the effectiveness of these combinations. Although null mutations in a rdxA gene that encodes oxygen-insensitive NAD(P)H nitroreductase was reported in Mtz-resistant H.

Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of multiple genes encoding putative metronidazole nitroreductases from Helicobacter pylori.

Metronidazole (Mtz), a pro-drug, requires reductive activation by ferredoxin-like electron carrier proteins to kill bacteria and Mtz resistance is associated with a decrease or deficiency of Mtz nitroreductase activities in a target cell. Several genes encoding ferredoxin-like or -linked proteins such as pyruvate oxidoreductase (POR), ferredoxin oxidoreductase (FOR), ferredoxin (FdxA), ferredoxin-like protein (FdxB), flavodoxin (FldA) and oxygen insensitive nitroreductase (RdxA) have been identified from the complete genomic sequence of Helicobacter pylori. To understand the roles of these genes in H.

Antibacterial therapy for Crohn's disease: a review emphasizing therapy directed against mycobacteria.

The most commonly used antibiotics in Crohn's disease are nitroimidazoles and macrolides often combined with corticosteroids or sulfasalazine. There has been interest in a mycobacterial involvement in Crohn's disease since its earliest description. It is not recognized that Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, a proven but uncommon cause of human disease, is widespread in the human food chain especially in dairy products and beef.

The differential diagnosis of early gastric mucosa-associated lymphoma: polymerase chain reaction and paraffin section immunophenotyping.

The distinction between benign florid lymphoid hyperplasia and low-grade gastric mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma may be a challenge. The presence of monoclonal B cells in Helicobacter pylori-chronic active gastritis has suggested that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) data should be viewed with caution. We investigated the reliability of PCR versus immunophenotyping in diagnosing early gastric MALT lymphoma.

Characterization of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis p36 antigen and its seroreactivities in Crohn's disease.

Recent data using improved cultural, molecular, and serological techniques have strengthened the association of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis with Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with unknown etiology. To provide more evidence of an etiological association, antibody reactivities of Crohn's disease patients were tested by immunoblotting against M. paratuberculosis-recombinant antigens.

Effect of IS900 gene of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis on Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Mycobacterium paratuberculosis is mycobactin dependent and contains multiple copies of the IS900 gene that encodes for p43 (46.5K protein). The correlation between the two characteristics has been investigated.