Fluoroscopy assisted minimally invasive transplantation of allogenic mesenchymal stromal cells embedded in HyStem reduces the progression of nucleus pulposus degeneration in the damaged ntervertebral [corrected] disc: a preliminary study in rabbits.

This study was conducted to develop a technique for minimally invasive and accurate delivery of stem cells to augment nucleus pulposus (NP) in damaged intervertebral discs (IVD). IVD damage was created in noncontiguous discs at L4-L5 level; rabbits (N = 12) were randomly divided into three groups: group I treated with MSCs in HyStem hydrogel, group II treated with HyStem alone, and group III received no intervention. MSCs and hydrogel were administered to the damaged disc under guidance of fluoroscopy.

Improved antibiotic-impregnated catheters with extended-spectrum activity against resistant bacteria and fungi.

Minocycline-rifampin-impregnated central venous catheters (M/R CVCs) have been shown to be efficacious in reducing catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) and inhibiting the biofilm adherence of resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens, with the exception of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida spp. To expand the spectrum of antimicrobial activity, a novel second-generation M/R catheter was developed by adding chlorhexidine (CHX-M/R). CVCs and peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) were impregnated with CHX-M/R and compared with first-generation M/R catheters, CHX-silver sulfadiazine-treated CVCs (CHX/SS-CVCs), chlorhexidine-treated PICCs, and uncoated catheters.

Central venous catheter-associated Nocardia bacteremia in cancer patients.

Central venous catheters, often needed by cancer patients, can be the source of Nocardia bacteremia. We evaluated the clinical characteristics and outcomes of 17 cancer patients with Nocardia bacteremia. For 10 patients, the bacteremia was associated with the catheter; for the other 7, it was a disseminated infection.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter of the gene encoding the lipopolysaccharide receptor CD14 are associated with bacterial diarrhea in US and Canadian travelers to Mexico.

Background: Under normal conditions, the expression of CD14, which is the principal receptor for bacterial lipopolysaccharide, is down-regulated in the intestinal mucosa but increases in response to inflammatory stimuli. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether fecal CD14 levels increased in response to infection with diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CD14 gene were associated with an increased susceptibility to traveler's diarrhea (TD) in US visitors to Mexico.

Methods: Six SNPs located at the promoter, exon, and untranslated regions of CD14 were typed in a prospective cohort study of 1360 visitors to Mexico at risk for TD.

Seasonality of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes in the US students acquiring diarrhea in Mexico.

Background: Up to 60% of the US visitors to Mexico develop travelers' diarrhea (TD). In Mexico, rates of diarrhea have been associated with the rainy season and increase in ambient temperature. However, the seasonality of the various diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes in travelers has not been well described.

The prevention of biofilm colonization by multidrug-resistant pathogens that cause ventilator-associated pneumonia with antimicrobial-coated endotracheal tubes.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) continues to be the nosocomial infection associated with the highest mortality in critically ill patients. Since silver-coated endotracheal tubes (ETT) was shown in a multicenter prospective randomized trials to decrease the risk of VAP, we compared the efficacy of two antiseptic agents such as gardine- and gendine-coated ETTs with that of silver-coated ETTs in preventing biofilm. The ETTs were tested for their ability to prevent the biofilm formation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, and Candida albicans.

Campylobacter jejuni is not an important pathogen as a cause of diarrhea in US travelers to Mexico.

Campylobacter jejuni is an unusual cause of travelers' diarrhea acquired in Mexico, but previous studies have relied only on stool culture for diagnosis. We conducted a cohort study to determine if antibody seroconversion to C jejuni would better reflect the occurrence of infection acquired in Mexico. Serum IgG, IgA, and IgM antibodies to Campylobacter seroconverted in only 2 of 353 participants (0.

A single-nucleotide polymorphism in the gene encoding osteoprotegerin, an anti-inflammatory protein produced in response to infection with diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, is associated with an increased risk of nonsecretory bacterial diarrhea in North American travelers to Mexico.

Background: Osteoprotegerin (OPG), an immunoregulatory member of the TNF receptor superfamily, is expressed in inflamed intestinal mucosa. We investigated whether OPG is produced by intestinal epithelial cells and tested the hypothesis that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene encoding OPG (TNFRSF11B) are associated with traveler's diarrhea (TD) among North American travelers to Mexico.

Methods: OPG concentration was measured in the supernatants of T84 cells infected with various diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes.

Epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis in North American travelers to Mexico.

We studied 1,179 North American travelers who visited Mexico from 2005 to 2007. Travelers' diarrhea (TD) was reported by 521 (44%) participants. Among subjects with TD, 218 cases were examined for cryptosporidiosis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISA).

Influence of host interleukin-10 polymorphisms on development of traveler's diarrhea due to heat-labile enterotoxin-producing Escherichia coli in travelers from the United States who are visiting Mexico.

Up to 60% of U.S. visitors to Mexico develop traveler's diarrhea (TD), mostly due to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains that produce heat-labile (LT) and/or heat-stable (ST) enterotoxins.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin seroconversion in US travelers to Mexico.

Background And Aims: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is the most common bacterial pathogen isolated from travelers suffering of diarrhea. Exposure to heat-labile toxin (LT) produces a high rate of seroconversion. However, the role of LT-producing ETEC (LT-ETEC) as a cause of diarrhea is controversial.

PCR-based assay using occult blood detection cards for detection of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in specimens from U.S. travelers to Mexico with acute diarrhea.

Large field studies of travelers' diarrhea for multiple destinations are limited by the need to perform stool cultures on site in a timely manner. A method for the collection, transport, and storage of fecal specimens that does not require immediate processing and refrigeration and that is stable for months would be advantageous. This study was designed to determine if enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and enteroaggregative E.

Biofilm formation by enterococci.

Enterococci are an important global cause of nosocomial infections, being increasingly associated with urinary tract infections, endocarditis, intra-abdominal and pelvic infections, catheter-related infections, surgical wound infections, and central nervous system infections. The two most common enterococci species are Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. Both are capable of producing biofilms, which consist of a population of cells attached irreversibly on various biotic and abiotic surfaces, encased in a hydrated matrix of exopolymeric substances.

Virulence characteristics and the molecular epidemiology of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli isolates from travellers to developing countries.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is associated with diarrhoea among travellers to developing countries. EAEC virulence properties predisposing to illness are not clear. Sixty-four EAEC strains identified by a HEp-2 cell assay and isolated from faecal samples from US and European travellers to developing countries were studied for the prevalence of 11 putative virulence genes by PCR: 49 EAEC strains from adults with acute diarrhoea and 15 EAEC strains from adults without diarrhoea.

A novel single-nucleotide polymorphism in the lactoferrin gene is associated with susceptibility to diarrhea in North American travelers to Mexico.

Background: Diarrhea affects 40%-60% of travelers from industrialized nations who visit developing countries and is due to bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents. Lactoferrin is bactericidal to enteric pathogens, modulates the intestinal immune response, and is excreted in stool in response to infection with intestinal organisms. We investigated the impact that selected single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human lactoferrin gene have on susceptibility to traveler's diarrhea.

Association of putative enteroaggregative Escherichia coli virulence genes and biofilm production in isolates from travelers to developing countries.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is an emerging enteric pathogen that causes acute and chronic diarrhea among children, human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients, and travelers to developing regions of the world. The pathogenesis of EAEC strains involves the production of biofilm. In this study, we determined the association between presence of putative EAEC virulence genes and biofilm formation in 57 EAEC isolates (as defined by HEp-2 adherence) from travelers with diarrhea and in 18 EAEC isolates from travelers without diarrhea.

Pleiotrophic effects of 2 Enterococcus faecalis sagA-like genes, salA and salB, which encode proteins that are antigenic during human infection, on biofilm formation and binding to collagen type i and fibronectin.

Background: We have shown previously that Enterococcus faecium SagA has broad-spectrum binding to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. In the present study, 2 sagA-like genes, salA and salB, were identified in Enterococcus faecalis.

Methods: We compared the salA and salB mutants; their parental strain, OG1RF; and the salB-complemented strain for binding to ECM proteins and biofilm formation.

Analysis of differential gene expression in the cochlea and kidney of mouse by cDNA microarrays.

Microarray hybridization analysis of gene expression in the cochlea and kidney suggest a relationship between these tissues at the genomic level, indicating the common gene expression, likely serving a common function in both the organs primarily maintaining ion transport, and implied previously from morphological, pharmaco-kinetic and teratogenic studies. The cDNAs of more than 100 genes listed on the hereditary hearing loss homepage were amplified as targets by RT-PCR and were hybridized with probes prepared from total RNA of the cochlea and the kidney. Thirteen of the genes analyzed showed altered fluorescence ratios of more than two logs.

Influence of origin of isolates, especially endocarditis isolates, and various genes on biofilm formation by Enterococcus faecalis.

Endocarditis isolates of Enterococcus faecalis produced biofilm significantly more often than nonendocarditis isolates, and 39% of 79 versus 6% of 84 isolates produced strong biofilm (P < 0.0001). esp was not required, but its presence was associated with higher amounts of biofilm (P < 0.