The presence of Clostridioides difficile in faeces before and after faecal microbiota transplantation and its relation with recurrent C. difficile infection and the gut microbiota in a Dutch cohort.

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to investigate the presence of Clostridioides difficile in faeces of patients with recurrent C. difficile infection (rCDI) before and after faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and to identify risk factors for faecal C. difficile and C.

Tubal flushing with oil-based contrast during hysterosalpingography versus tubal flushing by hysterosalpingo-foam sonography in infertile women undergoing fertility work-up: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial (FOil study).

Introduction: Hysterosalpingography (HSG) and hysterosalpingo-foam sonography (HyFoSy) are commonly used tubal patency tests during the fertility work-up. Besides its diagnostic purpose, HSG with oil-based contrast can also be applied for its fertility-enhancing effect, by tubal flushing. HyFoSy is considered as less painful compared with HSG, it lacks exposure to iodinated contrast medium and ionising radiation.

Calcium-Enhanced Medium-Based Delivery of Splice Modulating Antisense Oligonucleotides in 2D and 3D hiPSC-Derived Neuronal Models.

Antisense technology demonstrates significant potential for addressing inherited brain diseases, with over a dozen products already available and numerous others in the development pipeline. The versatility of differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into nearly all neural cell types proves invaluable for comprehending the mechanisms behind neurological diseases, replicating cellular phenotypes, and advancing the testing and development of new therapies, including antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics. While delivering antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to human iPSC-based neuronal models has posed challenges, this study explores various delivery methods, including lipid-based transfection, gymnotic uptake, Ca-enhanced medium (CEM)-based delivery, and electroporation, in 2D and 3D hiPSC-derived neuronal models.

infection epidemiology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece.

The aim was to highlight the incidence and epidemiology of infections (CDI) in a tertiary Greek hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. A single-center prospective observational cohort study was conducted (October 2021 until April 2022). 125 isolates were cultured from hospitalized patients stool samples and screened by PCR for toxin A (), toxin B (), binary toxin ( and ) genes and the regulating gene of .

No pain relief by virtual reality during hysterosalpingography (HSG): results from a randomized controlled trial.

Study Question: Is virtual reality (VR) an effective non-pharmacological tool to reduce procedural pain during hysterosalpingography (HSG)?

Summary Answer: An HSG with VR does not reduce procedural pain scores compared to an HSG without VR.

What Is Known Already: An HSG is often experienced as painful and uncomfortable. VR has been proven successful to reduce acute procedural pain during a variety of medical procedures and interventions.

Fecal microbiota transplantation: current challenges and future landscapes.

SUMMARYGiven the importance of gut microbial homeostasis in maintaining health, there has been considerable interest in developing innovative therapeutic strategies for restoring gut microbiota. One such approach, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), is the main "whole gut microbiome replacement" strategy and has been integrated into clinical practice guidelines for treating recurrent infection (rCDI). Furthermore, the potential application of FMT in other indications such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), metabolic syndrome, and solid tumor malignancies is an area of intense interest and active research.

in calves, cattle and humans from Dutch dairy farms: Predominance of PCR ribotype 695 (clade 5, sequence type 11) in cattle.

Background: is a leading cause of infectious diarrhea in both humans and livestock. In particular, strains belonging to sequence type (ST) 11 are common enteropathogens. The aim of this study was to determine the presence and genetic relatedness of types in dairy cattle and calves.

Prospective and systematic screening for invasive aspergillosis in the ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic, a proof of principle for future pandemics.

The diagnostic performance of a prospective, systematic screening strategy for COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) during the COVID-19 pandemic was investigated. Patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU were screened for CAPA twice weekly by collection of tracheal aspirate (TA) for Aspergillus culture and PCR. Subsequently, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) sampling was performed in patients with positive screening results and clinical suspicion of infection.

Fungal and bacterial gut microbiota differ between colonization and infection.

The bacterial microbiota is well-recognized for its role in colonization and infection, while fungi and yeasts remain understudied. The aim of this study was to analyze the predictive value of the mycobiota and its interactions with the bacterial microbiota in light of colonization and infection. The mycobiota was profiled by ITS2 sequencing of fecal DNA from infection (CDI) patients ( = 29), asymptomatically colonization (CDC) patients ( = 38), and hospitalized controls with negative stool culture (controls; = 38).

Long-term beneficial effect of faecal microbiota transplantation on colonisation of multidrug-resistant bacteria and resistome abundance in patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection.

Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are a growing global threat, especially in healthcare facilities. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an effective prevention strategy for recurrences of Clostridioides difficile infections and can also be useful for other microbiota-related diseases.

Methods: We study the effect of FMT in patients with multiple recurrent C.

Antimicrobial susceptibility profile of clinically relevant Bacteroides, Phocaeicola, Parabacteroides and Prevotella species, isolated by eight laboratories in the Netherlands.

Objectives: Recently, reports on antimicrobial-resistant Bacteroides and Prevotella isolates have increased in the Netherlands. This urged the need for a surveillance study on the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of Bacteroides, Phocaeicola, Parabacteroides and Prevotella isolates consecutively isolated from human clinical specimens at eight different Dutch laboratories.

Methods: Each laboratory collected 20-25 Bacteroides (including Phocaeicola and Parabacteroides) and 10-15 Prevotella isolates for 3 months.

False aminoglycoside resistance in Enterobacterales and non-fermenters by an automated testing system: a descriptive study.

Antimicrobial sensitivity data are important to guide antimicrobial therapy. In microbiological laboratories, routine sensitivity measurements are typically performed with automated testing systems such as VITEK2 and Phoenix. Using data from the Dutch national surveillance system for antimicrobial resistance over a 6-year period, we found that the measured minimum inhibitory concentrations for aminoglycosides in Enterobacterales and non-fermenters were too high for the Phoenix system.

The ESCMID Study Group for Clostridioides difficile: History, Role, and Perspectives.

Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is a major nosocomial pathogen but is also increasingly recognised as an important diarrhoeal pathogen in the community, not always associated with antibiotics. The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for C.

Diagnostic Guidance for C. difficile Infections.

Diagnosis of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) can be challenging. First of all, there has been debate on which of the two reference assays, cell cytotoxicity neutralization assay (CCNA) or toxigenic culture (TC), should be considered the gold standard for CDI detection. Although the CCNA suffers most from suboptimal storage conditions and subsequent toxin degradation, TC is reported to falsely increase CDI detection rates as it cannot differentiate CDI patients from patients asymptomatically colonised by toxigenic C.

Update on microbiota-derived therapies for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections.

Background: Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is the standard treatment for patients with multiple recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI). Recently, new commercially developed human microbiota-derived medicinal products have been evaluated and Food and Drug Administration-approved with considerable differences in terms of composition, administration, and targeted populations.

Objectives: To review available data on the different microbiota-derived treatments at the stage of advanced clinical evaluation and research in rCDI in comparison with FMT.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prevalence of highly resistant microorganisms in hospitalised patients in the Netherlands, March 2020 to August 2022.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in adaptation in infection control measures, increased patient transfer, high occupancy of intensive cares, downscaling of non-urgent medical procedures and decreased travelling.AimTo gain insight in the influence of these changes on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) prevalence in the Netherlands, a country with a low AMR prevalence, we estimated changes in demographics and prevalence of six highly resistant microorganisms (HRMO) in hospitalised patients in the Netherlands during COVID-19 waves (March-June 2020, October 2020-June 2021, October 2021-May 2022 and June-August 2022) and interwaves (July-September 2020 and July-September 2021) compared with pre-COVID-19 (March 2019-February 2020).MethodsWe investigated data on routine bacteriology cultures of hospitalised patients, obtained from 37 clinical microbiological laboratories participating in the national AMR surveillance.

Antisense oligonucleotide-mediated disruption of HTT caspase-6 cleavage site ameliorates the phenotype of YAC128 Huntington disease mice.

In Huntington disease, cellular toxicity is particularly caused by toxic protein fragments generated from the mutant huntingtin (HTT) protein. By modifying the HTT protein, we aim to reduce proteolytic cleavage and ameliorate the consequences of mutant HTT without lowering total HTT levels. To that end, we use an antisense oligonucleotide (AON) that targets HTT pre-mRNA and induces partial skipping of exon 12, which contains the critical caspase-6 cleavage site.