Implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship programme in three regional hospitals in the south-east of Liberia: lessons learned.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes can improve the use of antimicrobial agents. However, there is limited experience in the implementation of such programmes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Objectives: To assess the effect of AMS measures in south-east Liberia on the quality of antimicrobial use in three regional hospitals.

Population structure among mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Colombia.

Background: Phylogeographic composition of M. tuberculosis populations reveals associations between lineages and human populations that might have implications for the development of strategies to control the disease. In Latin America, lineage 4 or the Euro-American, is predominant with considerable variations among and within countries.

Tuberculosis among homeless population from Medellín, Colombia: associated mental disorders and socio-demographic characteristics.

Homeless people are highly susceptible to tuberculosis. It has been suggested that this population have high rates of mental disorders associated with tuberculosis. We assessed tuberculosis incidence, its transmission patterns and association with socio-demographic factors and mental disorders in Colombian homeless people.

Systematic interpretation of molecular beacon polymerase chain reaction for identifying rpoB mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates with mixed resistant and susceptible bacteria.

Detection of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), a frequent cause of treatment failure, takes 2 or more weeks to identify by culture. Rifampicin (RIF) resistance is a hallmark of MDR-TB, and detection of mutations in the rpoB gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using molecular beacon probes with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is a novel approach that takes View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Vibrio cholerae flagellar regulatory hierarchy controls expression of virulence factors.

Vibrio cholerae is a motile bacterium responsible for the disease cholera, and motility has been hypothesized to be inversely regulated with virulence. We examined the transcription profiles of V. cholerae strains containing mutations in flagellar regulatory genes (rpoN, flrA, flrC, and fliA) by utilizing whole-genome microarrays.

Mutations in DNA repair genes are associated with the Haarlem lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis independently of their antibiotic resistance.

The analysis of the DNA repair genes ogt and ung was carried out in 117 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from Argentina and Colombia in order to explore correlation between mutations in these genes and multi-drug resistance. With the exception of two Beijing family isolates, the rest of the strains harbored either two wild-type or two mutant alleles with identical single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in each gene (ogt44 and ung501). These ogt44 and ung501 mutations were not associated with multi-drug resistance and occurred simultaneously in circulating Haarlem genotype M.

Roles of the regulatory proteins FlhF and FlhG in the Vibrio cholerae flagellar transcription hierarchy.

Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the human diarrheal disease cholera, is a motile bacterium with a single polar flagellum, and motility has been inferred to be an important aspect of virulence. The V. cholerae flagellar hierarchy is organized into four classes of genes.

Characterization of enhancer binding by the Vibrio cholerae flagellar regulatory protein FlrC.

The human pathogen Vibrio cholerae is a highly motile organism by virtue of a polar flagellum, and motility has been inferred to be an important aspect of virulence. It has previously been demonstrated that the sigma(54)-dependent activator FlrC is necessary for both flagellar synthesis and for enhanced intestinal colonization. In order to characterize FlrC binding, we analyzed two FlrC-dependent promoters, the highly transcribed flaA promoter and the weakly transcribed flgK promoter, utilizing transcriptional lacZ fusions, mobility shift assays, and DNase I footprinting.

The sodium-driven flagellar motor controls exopolysaccharide expression in Vibrio cholerae.

Vibrio cholerae causes the life-threatening diarrheal disease cholera. This organism persists in aquatic environments in areas of endemicity, and it is believed that the ability of the bacteria to form biofilms in the environment contributes to their persistence. Expression of an exopolysaccharide (EPS), encoded by two vps gene clusters, is essential for biofilm formation and causes a rugose colonial phenotype.

The Vibrio cholerae FlgM homologue is an anti-sigma28 factor that is secreted through the sheathed polar flagellum.

Vibrio cholerae has a single polar sheathed flagellum that propels the cells of this bacterium. Flagellar synthesis, motility, and chemotaxis have all been linked to virulence in this human pathogen. V.

Zebrafish-Mycobacterium marinum model for mycobacterial pathogenesis.

We report here the development of a pathogenesis model utilizing Mycobacterium marinum infection of zebrafish (Danio rerio) for the study of mycobacterial disease. The zebrafish model mimics certain aspects of human tuberculosis, such as the formation of granuloma-like lesions and the ability to establish either an acute or a chronic infection based upon inoculum. This model allows the genetics of mycobacterial disease to be studied in both pathogen and host.