Publications by authors named "L T Mathaba"

Dust mites produce bacteriolytic enzymes, one of which belongs to the NlpC/P60 superfamily comprising bacterial and fungal proteins. Whether this enzyme is derived from the mite or from mite-associated microbes is unclear. To this end, the bacteriology of mites per se, and carpet and mattress dust from a group of asthmatic children and their parents was investigated.

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The outer membrane proteins of Moraxella catarrhalis, a bacterial pathogen which causes disease in both children and adults, play an important role in its phenotypic properties. However, their proinflammatory potential with regard to respiratory epithelium and macrophages is unclear. To this end, we examined the cytokine- and mediator-inducing capacity of a heat-killed wild-type M.

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Bacteriolytic activity was detected in extracts of whole mite and spent growth medium (SGM) from the clinically important Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae mites and was most abundant in whole mite extract. Gram-positive organisms Micrococcus lysodeikticus, Bacillus megaterium and Listeria monocytogenes were preferentially lysed and the lytic activity was enhanced by thiols, destroyed by mite proteases, inhibited by HgCl2 and high concentrations of NaCl but was resistant to heat and acid treatment. Substrate SDS-PAGE analysis indicated the presence of several lytic enzymes, two of which were isolated from D.

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Background: Candida albicans has been implicated as the aetiological agent in a significant percentage of children with diarrhoea. The virulence properties of C. albicans strains associated with acute and chronic diarrhoea in hospitalized children were investigated.

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Fifty-seven isolates of Candida albicans were obtained from different sites within the oral cavities of 18 dental patients without AIDS or any malignancies. Eleven of the patients had oral candidosis associated with the wearing of dentures. The genotypic relationships of the individual isolates were determined by hybridisation of a C.

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