Siderophores and competition for iron govern myxobacterial predation dynamics.

Bacterial predators are decisive organisms that shape microbial ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the role of iron and siderophores during the predatory interaction between two rhizosphere bacteria: Myxococcus xanthus, an epibiotic predator, and Sinorhizobium meliloti, a bacterium that establishes nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with legumes. The results show that iron enhances the motility of the predator and facilitates its predatory capability, and that intoxication by iron is not used by the predator to prey, although oxidative stress increases in both bacteria during predation.

Transcriptomic response of to the predatory attack of .

Bacterial predation impacts microbial community structures, which can have both positive and negative effects on plant and animal health and on environmental sustainability. is an epibiotic soil predator with a broad range of prey, including , which establishes nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with legumes. During the - interaction, the predator must adapt its transcriptome to kill and lyse the target (predatosome), and the prey must orchestrate a transcriptional response (defensome) to protect itself against the biotic stress caused by the predatory attack.

Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Autoimmune Disorders: Findings From the RIETE Registry.

Patients with autoimmune disorders are at an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), but this association has not been consistently evaluated. We used the RIETE (Registro Informatizado Enfermedad Trombo Embólica) database to compare the rates of VTE recurrences, major bleeding, and death during the course of anticoagulation, according to the presence or absence of autoimmune disorders. Of 71 625 patients with VTE recruited in February 2018, 1800 (2.

HH103 RirA Is Required for Oxidative Stress Resistance and Efficient Symbiosis with Soybean.

Members of contain a homologue of the iron-responsive regulatory protein RirA. In different bacteria, RirA acts as a repressor of iron uptake systems under iron-replete conditions and contributes to ameliorate cell damage during oxidative stress. In and , mutations in do not impair symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

Lung cancer and urbanization level in a region of Southern Europe: influence of socio-economic and environmental factors.

Background: This study analysed the distribution of lung cancer deaths in areas with different urbanization levels in the Madrid Region and whether such differences persisted when deprivation and air pollution were considered.

Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional study covering lung cancer deaths (2001-07). The exposure indicators were: a deprivation index based on 2001 census data; and the daily mean NO2 measurement (2002-07), both at the census tract level.

[Husk of Venezuelan cocoa as raw material of infusions].

In the cocoa bean industry, some by-products go underutilized. Some of these components could provide other innovative products, and such is the case with the husk of the cocoa bean. Previous studies have attributed the husk with a high antioxidant capacity, which added to its relative low cost, makes it an attractive ingredient for the production of infusions.

FadD is required for utilization of endogenous fatty acids released from membrane lipids.

FadD is an acyl coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase responsible for the activation of exogenous long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) into acyl-CoAs. Mutation of fadD in the symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti promotes swarming motility and leads to defects in nodulation of alfalfa plants. In this study, we found that S.

[Measurement of hepatitis C virus RNA 12 weeks after treatment predicts sustained virological response in HIV-HCV co-infected patients].

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether measurement of hepatitis C virus RNA (HCV-RNA) at 12 weeks post-treatment could predict sustained virological response (SVR) to antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C (pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin) in HIV-co-infected patients.

Patients And Methods: HIV-HCV co-infected patients were included if they completed a full course of anti-HCV therapy, achieved an end-of-treatment response and complied with the week +12 and +24 post-treatment follow-up schedule for serum HCV-RNA determination (Real-time HCV (Abbott, Wiesbaden, Germany) (lower limit of detection, 12 IU/ml).

Results: Forty out of 66 patients (61%) showed an end-of-treatment response.

Haemodynamic derangement in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis: the role of bacterial translocation.

Background And Aims: Analysis of the influence of the effects of increased intestinal permeability on haemodynamic alterations in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with decompensated hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease.

Methods: Forty HIV/HCV co-infected patients and 40 HCV mono-infected patients, 20 of them with compensated cirrhosis and 20 with a previous decompensation, and 20 healthy controls, were studied. Intestinal permeability was determined by serum levels of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP).

Bacterial translocation in HIV-infected patients with HCV cirrhosis: implication in hemodynamic alterations and mortality.

Objective: Analysis of the influence of portal hypertension on intestinal permeability in HIV-infected patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis and of the prognostic significance of consequent macrophage activation.

Methods: Twenty HIV-monoinfected patients, 70 patients with HIV-HCV coinfection, 20 of them with compensated and 50 with decompensated cirrhosis, and 20 healthy controls were evaluated for intestinal permeability [measured by lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) serum levels], macrophage activation [soluble CD14, soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor 55 Kd, and interleukin 6 (IL-6)], and activation of the rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis were monitored for a median period of 429 days to analyze the prognostic factors implicated in survival.

Clinical and prognostic significance of parotid scintigraphy in 405 patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the degree of involvement shown by parotid scintigraphy at diagnosis and the disease expression, outcomes, and prognosis of primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS).

Methods: All patients consecutively diagnosed with primary SS in our department between 1984 and 2008 were evaluated. The scintigraphic stages were classified into class 4 (severe involvement), class 2-3 (mild to moderate involvement), and class 1 (normal results).

Comparative evaluation of three culture methods for the isolation of mycobacteria from clinical samples.

We assessed the capacity of two liquid-medium culture methods with automated incubation and reading systems (MB/BacT ALERT 3D System and BACTEC MGIT 960 System) and one solid-medium culture method (Löwenstein- Jensen) to detect mycobacteria in different types of clinical samples. Out of 1,770 cultured clinical samples (1,519 of respiratory origin and 251 of nonrespiratory origin), mycobacteria were isolated in 156 samples (135 M. tuberculosis complex, 8 M.

Sjögren syndrome or sjögren disease? The histological and immunological bias caused by the 2002 criteria.

The current 2002 classification criteria do not cover the broad clinical and immunological heterogeneity of primary Sjögren syndrome (SS), since five of the six criteria focus exclusively on glandular involvement and the remaining criterion is the mandatory presence of anti-Ro/La antibodies. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical features of patients with a well-established diagnosis of primary SS who do not fulfill the 2002 classification criteria. Five hundred seven patients diagnosed with primary SS (1993 criteria) were consecutively included and followed up.

The tep1 gene of Sinorhizobium meliloti coding for a putative transmembrane efflux protein and N-acetyl glucosamine affect nod gene expression and nodulation of alfalfa plants.

Background: Soil bacteria collectively known as Rhizobium, characterized by their ability to establish beneficial symbiosis with legumes, share several common characteristics with pathogenic bacteria when infecting the host plant. Recently, it was demonstrated that a fadD mutant of Sinorhizobium meliloti is altered in the control of swarming, a type of co-ordinated movement previously associated with pathogenicity, and is also impaired in nodulation efficiency on alfalfa roots. In the phytopathogen Xanthomonas campestris, a fadD homolog (rpfB) forms part of a cluster of genes involved in the regulation of pathogenicity factors.

Genetic diversity and host range of rhizobia nodulating Lotus tenuis in typical soils of the Salado River Basin (Argentina).

A total of 103 root nodule isolates were used to estimate the diversity of bacteria nodulating Lotus tenuis in typical soils of the Salado River Basin. A high level of genetic diversity was revealed by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR, and 77 isolates with unique genomic fingerprints were further differentiated into two clusters, clusters A and B, after 16S rRNA restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Cluster A strains appeared to be related to the genus Mesorhizobium, whereas cluster B was related to the genus Rhizobium.

Autoimmune diseases induced by TNF-targeted therapies.

Anti-TNF agents are increasingly being used for a rapidly expanding number of rheumatic and systemic autoimmune diseases. As a result of this use, and of the longer follow-up periods of treatment, there are a growing number of reports of the development of autoimmune processes related to anti-TNF agents. The clinical characteristics, outcomes, and patterns of association with the different anti-TNF agents used in all reports of autoimmune diseases developing after TNF-targeted therapy, were analyzed through a baseline Medline search of articles published between January 1990 and May 2008 (www.

A systematic review of the off-label use of biological therapies in systemic autoimmune diseases.

In 2006, the Study Group on Autoimmune Diseases (GEAS) of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine created the BIOGEAS project, a multicenter study devoted to collecting data on the use of biological agents in adult patients with systemic autoimmune diseases (SAD). The information source is a periodic surveillance of reported cases by a MEDLINE search (last update before this writing: December 31, 2007). The analysis included a total of 19 SAD and 6 biological agents.

Clinical presentation and time-course of postoperative venous thromboembolism: Results from the RIETE Registry.

There is little literature about the clinical presentation and time-course of postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) in different surgical procedures. RIETE is an ongoing, prospective registry of consecutive patients with objectively confirmed, symptomatic acute VTE. In this analysis, we analysed the baseline characteristics, thromboprophylaxis and therapeutic patterns, time-course, and three-month outcome of all patients with postoperative VTE.

D-dimer levels correlate with mortality in patients with acute pulmonary embolism: Findings from the RIETE registry.

Object: Few studies have addressed the prognostic implications of D-dimer in patients with pulmonary embolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between D-dimer levels and mortality in patients with pulmonary embolism.

Design: Observational study.

Meta-analysis of studies analyzing the relationship between bladder cancer and infection by human papillomavirus.

Purpose: Studies have been done of the possibility that infection by human papillomavirus is a risk factor contributing to bladder cancer but no definite conclusions have yet been drawn. We performed a meta-analysis of observational studies published until July 2005 to ascertain the degree of association between bladder cancer and human papillomavirus infection.

Materials And Methods: The MEDLINE database was searched using the key words bladder cancer and virus.

Effects of endogenous salicylic acid on nodulation in the model legumes Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula.

The exogenous addition of salicylic acid (SA) was previously shown to inhibit indeterminate but not determinate-type nodulation. We sought to extend these results by modulating endogenous levels of SA through the transgenic expression of salicylate hydroxylase (NahG) in both stably transformed Lotus japonicus and composite Medicago truncatula plants. NahG expression in L.

[Description of immunogens of Chlamydia pneumoniae recognized by serum of individuals with peripheral artery disease].

Background And Objective: The relationship between antibodies to C. pneumoniae and presence of the bacteria was studied in individuals with peripheral arterial disease.

Patients And Method: An observational analytical, case-control study was performed in 118 patients (68 cases, 50 controls) to investigate immunoglobulin (Ig) G and A against C.

Evaluation of two automated systems for detection of bacteriuria.

The Utiscreen-CORAL Biomedical system and ROBOBACT system were tested against conventional uroculture in blood agar and MacConkey agar as a reference method to determine the bacteriuria from 400 samples. For the Utiscreen-CORAL Biomedical system, a sensitivity of 92.5% was obtained.

High presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and resistance to quinolones in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli.

A study was conducted to detect the presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) in 706 isolates of Escherichia coli, largely from outpatients (75.2%). The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (formerly NCCLS)-recommended disk diffusion procedure was used to detect ESBL presence; the VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux, Marcy L'Etoile, France) was used to determine the susceptibility to antibiotics of clinical interest, and the ESBLs were characterized by biochemical study, determining the isoelectric point, and by molecular study with PCR.

Phosphorus-free membrane lipids of Sinorhizobium meliloti are not required for the symbiosis with alfalfa but contribute to increased cell yields under phosphorus-limiting conditions of growth.

The microsymbiont of alfalfa, Sinorhizobium meliloti, possesses phosphatidylglycerol, cardiolipin, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylcholine as major membrane phospholipids, when grown in the presence of sufficient accessible phosphorus sources. Under phosphate-limiting conditions of growth, S. meliloti replaces its phospholipids by membrane lipids that do not contain any phosphorus in their molecular structure and, in S.