Occurrence and relatedness of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in animals, humans, and the environment in different European regions.

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in Europe are thought to have emerged partly due to the use of the glycopeptide avoparcin in animal husbandry. We compared the occurrence of VRE in geographical regions of Europe in which until 1997 large amounts of avoparcin were used (Spain, United Kingdom, and Denmark) with the occurrence of VRE in Sweden, where avoparcin was banned in 1986. We also studied the relatedness between VRE strains from different regions and habitats.

Identification of members of Mycobacterium avium species by Accu-Probes, serotyping, and single IS900, IS901, IS1245 and IS901-flanking region PCR with internal standards.

From Mycobacterium avium species Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (n=961), Mycobacterium a. avium (n=677), Mycobacterium a.

Changes of viability and composition of the Escherichia coli flora in faecal samples during long time storage.

Long-time storage of faecal samples is necessary for investigations of intestinal microfloras. The aim of the present study was to evaluate how the viability and the composition of the Escherichia coli flora are affected in faecal samples during different storage conditions. Four fresh faecal samples (two from calves and two from infants) were divided into sub-samples and stored in four different ways: with and without addition of glycerol broth at -20 degrees C and at -70 degrees C.

Diversity among 2481 Escherichia coli from women with community-acquired lower urinary tract infections in 17 countries.

Objectives: In the recently published ECO.SENS survey, the antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli from urinary tract infections in women in 16 European countries and Canada was investigated. This study reports the diversity among these E.

Tracking the origin of faecal pollution in surface water: an ongoing project within the European Union research programme.

The objectives of this study are to generate knowledge about methods to track the sources of faecal pollution in surface waters, with the aim of having one or a few easy procedures applicable to different geographic areas in Europe. For this, a first field study using already proposed methods (genotypes of F-specific RNA bacteriophages, bacteriophages infecting Bacteroides fragilis, phenotypes of faecal coliforms and enterococci, and sterols) has been done in five areas representing a wide array of conditions in Europe. The present faecal indicators (faecal coliforms, enterococci, sulfite reducing clostridia and somatic coliphages) have also been included in this first field study.

Studies on calf diarrhoea in Mozambique: prevalence of bacterial pathogens.

The prevalence of diarrhoea in calves was investigated in 8 dairy farms in Mozambique at 4 occasions during 2 consecutive years. A total of 1241 calves up to 6 months of age were reared in the farms, and 63 (5%) of them had signs of diarrhoea. Two farms had an overall higher prevalence (13% and 21%) of diarrhoea.

Evaluation of a scanner-assisted colorimetric MIC method for susceptibility testing of gram-negative fermentative bacteria.

We describe the ScanMIC method, a colorimetric MIC method for susceptibility testing of gram-negative fermentative bacteria. The method is a slight modification of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) recommended broth microdilution method that uses a redox indicator 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) to enhance the estimate of bacterial growth inhibition in a microplate and a flatbed scanner to capture the microplate image. In-house software was developed to transform the microplate image into numerical values based on the amount of bacterial growth and to generate the MICs automatically.

Evidence for transmission between humans and the environment of a nosocomial strain of Enterococcus faecium.

An ampicillin- and ciprofloxacin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (ARE) strain, named FMSE1, with a characteristic biochemical phenotype, was in a recent study found to dominate among faecal ARE isolates from patients in several Swedish hospitals. In the present study, the prevalence of this strain among 9676 enterococcal isolates from healthy children, hospital sewage, urban sewage, surface water, slaughtered animals (broilers, pigs and cattle) and pig faeces and manure was investigated. Enterococcal isolates having the same biochemical phenotype as the FMSE1 were most common in samples of hospital sewage (50%), surface water (35%), treated sewage (28%) and untreated sewage (17%), but rare in samples from healthy children (0.

A randomised placebo controlled trial of pegylated interferon alpha in active ulcerative colitis.

Background: Pilot studies of interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) suggest a high remission rate in the treatment of active ulcerative colitis. We evaluated the safety of pegylated interferon alpha (PegIFN) and its role in induction of remission in patients with active ulcerative colitis, in a multicentre placebo controlled trial.

Methods: Sixty patients with a clinical activity score (CAI) of >6 were randomised to receive placebo (n=20), PegIFN 0.

Clonality among ampicillin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolates in Sweden and relationship with ciprofloxacin resistance.

Objective: To investigate clonal relationships in a nationwide sample of human Enterococcus faecium isolates.

Methods: Biochemical fingerprinting (PhP (PhenePlate) typing) was used to compare 180 fecal ampicillin-resistant E. faecium (ARE) isolates with 169 matched fecal ampicillin-susceptible E.

The PhenePlate system for studies of the diversity of enterococcal populations from the food chain and the environment.

The growing interest in ecological investigations, such as studies of the "flow" of bacteria through the food chain, has resulted in a great need for simple typing techniques for bacteria that can be used when a large number of isolates need to be analysed. The present study describes a simple method for biochemical fingerprinting of enterococci, the PhenePlate RF (PhP-RF) system. The system is based on a 96-well microplate containing eight sets of 11 dehydrated reagents, selected to have a high discriminatory power among enterococcal isolates.

Comparison of enterococcal populations in animals, humans, and the environment--a European study.

The objectives of the present study were to generate knowledge of enterococcal populations in the food chain, by studying the population structure (in measures of abundance and diversity) among enterococci in different geographical regions and in different parts of the food chain, as well as the similarities between different enterococcal populations. Altogether, 2868 samples were collected from humans (healthy and hospitalised individuals and clinical isolates), animals (slaughterhouse carcasses and farm animals), and the environment (pig farms, sewage, and surface water) in four European countries-Sweden, Denmark, UK, and Spain. The samples were characterised with regard to presence and numbers of enterococci, and eight (for faecal samples) or 24 (for environmental samples) isolates per sample were phenotyped and preliminarily identified with the PhP-RF system.

[Biochemical phenotypes and phage types of Salmonella enteriditis strains isolated in Antofagasta during the period 1997-2000].

Background: PhP-S48 (Phene Plate Techniques AB), a method based on biochemical phenotypes has been developed and used successfully to typify S enteritidis strains in epidemiological studies.

Aim: To identify phenotypes of S enteritidis isolated from eggs, chicken meat and infected humans in Antofagasta during the period 1997-2000.

Material And Methods: PhP-S48 and phage typing were used to identify phenotypes of 33 S enteritidis strains, sixteen isolated from poultry and 17 from clinical sources.

Comparison of enterococcal populations related to urban and hospital wastewater in various climatic and geographic European regions.

Aims: Scarce knowledge about the distribution of enterococci species in wastewaters limits any statement on their reliability as faecal indicators or the implications of antibiotic resistance transmission by these organisms through the water cycle. Enterococci have been involved in nosocomial infections and the spreading of antibiotic resistance through the food chain. The species distribution of enterococci and the presence of resistant strains to vancomycin and erythromycin were analysed in more than 400 raw and treated urban wastewaters, surface waters receiving these treated wastewaters and hospital wastewaters from three European countries.

Armed therapeutic viruses: strategies and challenges to arming oncolytic viruses with therapeutic genes.

Oncolytic viruses are attractive therapeutics for cancer because they selectively amplify, through replication and spread, the input dose of virus in the target tumor. To date, clinical trials have demonstrated marked safety but have not realized their theoretical efficacy potential. In this review, we consider the potential of armed therapeutic viruses, whose lytic potential is enhanced by genetically engineered therapeutic transgene expression from the virus, as potential vehicles to increase the potency of these agents.

An anthroposophic lifestyle and intestinal microflora in infancy.

The intestinal flora is considered to have an impact on the development of the immune system. In the anthroposophic lifestyle, a diet comprising vegetables spontaneously fermented by lactobacilli, and a restrictive use of antibiotics, anti-pyretics and vaccinations, is typical. The aim of this study was to assess the gut flora in infants in relation to certain lifestyle characteristics associated with anthroposophy.

Phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of blood isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci in the newborn.

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are the leading cause of late-onset sepsis in newborns (>72 h of age). Our aim was to determine whether phenotypic and/or genotypic differences existed between blood isolates of CNS regarded as inducers of sepsis or as contaminants. Ninety-seven bloodisolates of CNS recovered from newborns at the neonatal intensive care unit, Orebro, Sweden in 1983-1997 were analysed.

Aeromonas hydrophila subsp. dhakensis subsp. nov., isolated from children with diarrhoea in Bangladesh, and extended description of Aeromonas hydrophila subsp. hydrophila (Chester 1901) Stanier 1943 (approved lists 1980).

A group of 10 Aeromonas hydrophila-like strains referred to as group BD-2, which mainly comprised haemolytic and cytotoxic isolates from diarrhoeal children in Bangladesh, was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study including fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (FAFLP) and ERIC-PCR fingerprinting, microplate DNA-DNA hybridization and extensive phenotypic characterization. Comparison of FAFLP and ERIC-PCR genotypic profiles indicated that the group BD-2 isolates constituted a separate taxon that was most closely related to A. hydrophila DNA hybridization group (HG) 1.

High prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Swedish sewage.

In Europe the use of the growth promoter avoparcin is considered to have selected for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Sweden ceased using avoparcin in 1986, and only occasional cases of VRE from hospitals have been reported since 1995. Within the framework of a European study, samples from urban raw sewage, treated sewage, surface water, and hospital sewage in Sweden (n = 118) were screened for VRE.

Evaluation of redox indicators and the use of digital scanners and spectrophotometer for quantification of microbial growth in microplates.

The growth indicators 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC), 2-[4-iodophenyl]-3-[4-dinitrophenyl]-5-phenyltetrazolium chloride (INT), 2,3-bis[2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl]-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide inner salt (XTT), 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), and resazurin were tested for their ability to indicate bacterial growth/growth inhibition. Two reading devices were evaluated and compared, a microplate spectrophotometer and a digital flatbed scanner. The bacteria used in the study were cultivated in 96-wells microplates and readings were made after 24 h.

Transfer of selected elements from food into human milk.

Objectives: We measured the transfer factors of antimony, cerium, chromium, cobalt, gallium, lanthanum, molybdenum, niobium, ruthenium, silver, thorium, titanium, and uranium from food to milk in nursing mothers.

Methods: Food and milk samples from 19 mothers were taken daily over 2 to 8 wk. The samples were analyzed for element content after microwave-assisted pressure digestion with a mass spectrometer and inductively coupled plasma.

Epidemiologic typing of international collections of Klebsiella spp.: computerized biochemical fingerprinting compared with serotyping, phage typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

OBJECTIVE: The Phene Plate (PhP) biochemical fingerprinting system is based on measurements of the kinetics of selected biochemical reactions performed in microtiter plates, and computerized data-processing. This study compared the performance of the PhP system as an epidemiologic tool with other commonly used typing systems. METHODS: PhP typing was applied to 107 nosocomial Klebsiella spp.

Identification and characterization of pathogenic Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria associated with epizootic ulcerative syndrome in fish in Bangladesh.

Sparse information is available on the virulence factors of Aeromonas strains isolated from diseased fish, from the environment, and from humans. In the present study, 52 Aeromonas isolates obtained from epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) lesions in fish, from the aquatic environment, and from children with diarrhea in Bangladesh were identified by biochemical phenotyping (i.e.

Treatment of Crohn's disease with recombinant human interleukin 10 induces the proinflammatory cytokine interferon gamma.

Background: Interleukin 10 (IL-10) exerts anti-inflammatory actions by counteracting many biological effects of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma).

Aims: To investigate this in humans, we studied the effects of human recombinant IL-10 administration on IFN-gamma production by patient leucocytes. Furthermore, we assessed the IFN-gamma inducible molecule neopterin and nitrite/nitrate serum levels, which are indicative of endogenous nitric oxide formation.

Identification of AKT-regulated genes in inducible MERAkt cells.

AKT/protein kinase B plays a critical role in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) pathway regulating cell growth, differentiation, and oncogenic transformation. Akt1-regulated genes were identified by cDNA array hybridization analysis using an inducible AKT1 protein, MERAKT. Treatment of MERAkt cells with estrogen receptor ligands resulted in phosphorylative activation of MERAKT.