Molecular epidemiology and characterization of virulence genes of community-acquired and hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates in Colombia.

Objective: To determine the molecular epidemiology and presence of virulence genes in community-acquired (CA) and hospital-acquired (HA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates and their relationship to clinical outcomes.

Methods: An observational and prospective study of infections caused by MRSA was conducted between June 2006 and December 2007 across seven hospitals in three Colombian cities. MRSA isolates were analyzed for SCCmec.

A new role for FGF2 as an endogenous inhibitor of anxiety.

Human postmortem studies have demonstrated that fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) expression is decreased in the brain of depressed individuals. It remained unclear, however, whether this is a consequence of the illness or whether FGF2 plays a primary role in the control of mood and emotions. In this series of studies, we first ask whether endogenous FGF2 expression correlates with spontaneous anxiety, a trait associated with vulnerability to severe mood disorders in humans.

Neonatal FGF2 alters cocaine self-administration in the adult rat.

The neurobiological bases of increased vulnerability to substance abuse remain obscure. We report here that rats that were selectively bred for greater drug-seeking behavior exhibited higher levels of FGF2 gene expression. We then asked whether a single FGF2 administration (20 ng/g, s.