Comprehensive Analysis of Virulence Determinants and Genomic Islands of -Producing Clinical Isolates from Greece.

Nosocomial outbreaks of multidrug-resistant (MDR) complex (ECC) are often reported worldwide, mostly associated with a small number of multilocus-sequence types of and strains. In Europe, the largest clonal outbreak of -producing ECC has been recently reported, involving an ST182 strain in a Greek teaching hospital. In the current study, we aimed to further investigate the genetic make-up of two representative outbreak isolates.

Absence of human rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial virus from bronchoalveolar lavage and bronchial biopsies of selected patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Previous studies have reported very different rates of human rhinovirus (HRV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) genome detection in nasal and sputum samples, but not in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and bronchial biopsy samples. Our study aimed to investigate the presence of HRV and RSV in the lungs of 31 consecutive patients with stable COPD (11 GOLD stage I, 11 II, and 9 III) and 22 control subjects (12 current or past smokers, and 10 non-smokers), who underwent diagnostic (e.g.

A review of neuraminidase inhibitor susceptibility in influenza strains.

Influenza human infections are considered as a persistent global public health issue. Whereas vaccination is important for prevention, given its limitations, antiviral therapy is at the forefront of treatment, while it also plays a significant role in prevention. Currently, two classes of drugs, adamantanes (M2 blockers) and neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs), are available for treatment and chemoprophylaxis of influenza infections.

Simultaneous cytological diagnosis of herpes simplex virus infection and primary lung cancer: report of two cases.

Herpes simplex is an uncommon cause of lower respiratory tract infection that requires prompt diagnosis and treatment to prevent late complications. We report two cases with simultaneous herpes simplex virus infection of the lower respiratory tract and lung carcinoma. Cytology of bronchial brushing and washing fluids and postbronchoscopic sputum established the diagnosis, which was further corroborated by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

High frequency of concomitant nm23-H1 and E-cadherin transcriptional inactivation in primary non-inheriting colorectal carcinomas.

This study evaluated the added significance of nm23-H1 to that of E-cadherin in determining metastatic proclivity in primary sporadic colorectal carcinomas (SCRCs). A clinical cohort of 52 SCRCs was examined for the significance of nm23-H1 and E-cadherin mRNA levels and E-cadherin protein expression levels into the progression of colorectal tumor invasion, determined by their relevance compared with conventional biological markers. A more than twofold decreased expression of nm23-H1 mRNA was reported in 28/52 (54%) of the carcinomas and was positively associated with the presence of nodal metastases and Astler-Coller stages B1 and B2 in 29% and 35% of the SCRCs, respectively.

Hypermethylation-associated transcriptional silencing of E-cadherin in primary sporadic colorectal carcinomas.

Loss of E (epithelial)-cadherin expression has been previously documented in sporadic colorectal carcinomas (SCRCs), but not as a consequence of mutations or allelic loss. In this study, the methylation status of the E-cadherin promoter was examined by utilizing the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) assay in 63 primary SCRCs and paired adjacent normal tissues. This was correlated with E-cadherin expression at both the RNA and the protein levels using multiplex reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC), respectively.

DNA hypermethylation: when tumour suppressor genes go silent.

The phenotype of the cancerous cell may arise either from genetic alterations that disrupt gene function through sequence modifications (mutations) or epigenetic events that may alter the heritable state of gene expression (i.e. without changing the actual sequence of the genome).

Cytokine serum levels in patients with chronic HCV infection.

The pathogenic role of immune-mediated mechanisms in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we report different cytokine expression profiles from hemodialysis (HD) and non-HD HCV (+) patients. IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and TGF-beta1 serum levels, and liver biochemical parameters were determined in 85 individuals (41 HD patients and 44 non-HD patients).