A Tailored Approach to Leishmaniases Vaccination: Comparative Evaluation of the Efficacy and Cross-Protection Capacity of DNA vs. Peptide-Based Vaccines in a Murine Model.

Zoonotic leishmaniases are a worldwide public health problem for which the development of effective vaccines remains a challenge. A vaccine against leishmaniases must be safe and affordable and should induce cross-protection against the different disease-causing species. In this context, the DNA vaccine pHisAK70 has been demonstrated to induce, in a murine model, a resistant phenotype against , and .

Pets for pediatric transplant recipients: To have or not to have.

Pets have many health, emotional and social benefits for children, but the risk of zoonotic infections cannot be underestimated, especially for immunosuppressed patients. We report the recommendations given by health professionals working with pediatric transplant recipients to their families regarding pet ownership. An online survey addressing zoonosis knowledge and recommendations provided by health care practitioners regarding pets was distributed to clinicians treating pediatric transplant recipients.

Angiopoietin-2 and angiopoietin-like 4 protein provide prognostic information in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Plasma levels of angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2) and angiopoietin-like 4 protein (ANGPTL4) reflect different pathophysiological aspects of cardiovascular disease. We evaluated their association with outcome in a hospitalized Norwegian patient cohort (n = 871) with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and validated our results in a similar Argentinean cohort (n = 982).

Methods: A cox regression model, adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, was fitted for ANGPT2 and ANGPTL4, respectively, with all-cause mortality and cardiac death within 24 months and all-cause mortality within 60 months as the dependent variables.

Radical genome remodelling accompanied the emergence of a novel host-restricted bacterial pathogen.

The emergence of new pathogens is a major threat to public and veterinary health. Changes in bacterial habitat such as a switch in host or disease tropism are typically accompanied by genetic diversification. Staphylococcus aureus is a multi-host bacterial species associated with human and livestock infections.

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) in the Madrid region of Spain are carriers of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli and enteropathogenic E. coli.

The role of wildlife in the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance is unclear. Raccoons in North America can carry a variety of enteric bacteria, with associated antimicrobial resistance, that could infect humans and livestock. The potential for raccoons to carry these bacteria in Europe, where they are an invasive species, has not been explored.

Strength and medium-term impact of HisAK70 immunization in dogs: Vaccine safety and biomarkers of effectiveness for ex vivo Leishmania infantum infection.

HisAK70 candidates have successfully been tested in cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniosis (VL) mouse models. Here, we analyse different biomarkers in dog trials after a heterologous immunization strategy with a HisAK70 candidate (plasmid DNA plus adoptive transfer of peripheral blood-derived dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with the same pathoantigen and CpG ODN as an adjuvant) to explore the antileishmanial activity in an ex vivo canine co-culture system in the presence of Leishmania infantum parasites. In the canine model, the heterologous HisAK70 vaccine could decrease the infection index in the DC-T cell co-culture system by up to 54% after 30 days and reach almost 67% after 100 days post-immunization, respectively, compared to those obtained in the control group of dogs.

Rapid differentiation of Staphylococcus aureus subspecies based on MALDI-TOF MS profiles.

Staphylococcus aureus encompasses 2 subspecies ( aureus and anaerobius) with significant differences in their epidemiology and pathogenicity. We evaluated the suitability of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the rapid identification of both subspecies using a panel of 52 S. aureus isolates (30 subsp.

Antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli in the reproductive tract microbiota of cows and sows.

Escherichia coli is a natural colonizer of the urogenital mucosa of healthy females; however it is one of the pathogens associated to reproductive failures in cows and sows. A better knowledge about the characteristics of native E. coli will allow us to differentiate them from pathogenic strains.

Streptococcus ovuberis sp. nov., isolated from a subcutaneous abscess in the udder of a sheep.

One unidentified, Gram-stain-positive, catalase-negative coccus-shaped organism was recovered from a subcutaneous abscess of the udder of a sheep and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic analysis. Based on cellular morphology and biochemical criteria, the isolate was tentatively assigned to the genus Streptococcus, although the organism did not appear to match any recognized species. 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison studies confirmed its identification as a member of the genus Streptococcus and showed that the nearest phylogenetic relatives of the unknown coccus corresponded to Streptococcus moroccensis and Streptococcus cameli (95.

Alternative strategy for visceral leishmaniosis control: HisAK70-Salmonella Choleraesuis-pulsed dendritic cells.

Here, we describe a novel approach that exploits an attenuated mutant of Salmonella enterica serovar Choleraesuis as carrier to deliver a plasmid encoding protein HisAK70. Subsequently, dendritic cells (DCs) were pulsed with this vaccine vector. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the prepared HisAK70-S.

Engineering of a live Salmonella enterica serovar Choleraesuis negative-marker strain that allows serological differentiation between immunised and infected animals.

The usefulness of Salmonella vaccine vehicles is limited by the fact that control programmes relying on Salmonella bacteriology and serology cannot differentiate infected animals from vaccinated ones, an ability referred to as DIVA (differentiating infected from vaccinated animals). As a first step towards Salmonella-based DIVA vaccines, the ompA gene was deleted in live attenuated ΔphoP and ΔrpoS vaccine strains. The ompA gene is present in all Salmonella enterica serovars and it encodes an abundant, highly immunogenic outer membrane protein.

Subtilase cytotoxin-encoding subAB2 variants in verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli strains isolated from goats and sheep.

Subtilase cytotoxin (SubAB) is a cytotoxin which might contribute to the virulence of verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) strains in humans. Three variants of SubAB encoding genes have been described (subAB1, subAB2-1, and subAB2-2) and it has been suggested that the strains positive for two variants of subAB may be more pathogenic for humans. In this study, 188 subAB2-positive VTEC strains isolated from goats and sheep were investigated for the presence of the subAB2-1 and subAB2-2 variants by PCR.

Resistance to non-quinolone antimicrobials in commensal Escherichia coli isolates from chickens treated orally with enrofloxacin.

The aim of the present study was evaluate how oral administration of enrofloxacin affected the frequency of resistance to different antimicrobials in commensal Escherichia coli isolates from healthy chickens. A further objective of this study was to characterize the mechanisms of resistance in these isolates. A trend towards increased resistance to enrofloxacin, doxycycline and amoxicillin of E.

HisAK70: progress towards a vaccine against different forms of leishmaniosis.

Background: Leishmania major and Leishmania infantum are among the main species that are responsible for cutaneous leishmaniosis (CL) and visceral leishmaniosis (VL), respectively. The leishmanioses represent the second-largest parasitic killer in the world after malaria. Recently, we succeeded in generating a plasmid DNA (pCMV-HISA70m2A) and demonstrated that immunized mice were protected against L.

Detection and linkage to mobile genetic elements of tetracycline resistance gene tet(M) in Escherichia coli isolates from pigs.

Background: In Escherichia coli the genes involved in the acquisition of tetracycline resistance are mainly tet(A) and tet(B). In addition, tet(M) is the most common tetracycline resistance determinant in enterococci and it is associated with conjugative transposons and plasmids. Although tet(M) has been identified in E.

Differences in virulence gene expression between atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strains isolated from diarrheic and healthy ruminants.

Differences in the pathogenicity of atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains may be due, at least partially, to different expression patterns of some virulence genes. To investigate this hypothesis, the virulence gene expression patterns of 6 atypical EPEC strains isolated from healthy and diarrheic ruminants were compared using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction after growing the bacteria in culture medium alone or after binding it to HeLa epithelial cells. Some virulence genes in strains from diarrheic animals were upregulated relative to their expression in strains from healthy animals.

Omega-3 index and prognosis in acute coronary chest pain patients with a low dietary intake of omega-3.

Background: The omega-3 index (eicosapentaenoic acid + docosahexaenoic acid) content in red blood cell membranes has been suggested as a novel risk marker for cardiac death. Objective. To assess the ability of the omega-3 index to predict all-cause mortality, cardiac death and sudden cardiac death following hospitalization with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and to include arachidonic acid (AA) in risk assessment.

Mitigating an undesirable immune response of inherent susceptibility to cutaneous leishmaniosis in a mouse model: the role of the pathoantigenic HISA70 DNA vaccine.

Leishmania major is the major cause of cutaneous leishmaniosis (CL) outside of the Americas. In the present study we have cloned six Leishmania genes (H2A, H2B, H3, H4, A2 and HSP70) into the eukaryotic expression vector pCMVβ-m2a, resulting in pCMV-HISA70m2A, which encodes all six pathoantigenic proteins as a single polyprotein. This expression plasmid has been evaluated as a novel vaccine candidate in the BALB/c mouse model of CL.

Subtilase cytotoxin-coding genes in verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli strains from sheep and goats differ from those from cattle.

Subtilase cytotoxin (SubAB) from verotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) strains was first described in the 98NK2 strain and has been associated with human disease. However, SubAB has recently been found in two VT-negative E. coli strains (ED 591 and ED 32).

Comparison of ruminant and human attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) strains.

The presence of 12 genes associated with virulence in human attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) was studied within a collection of 20 enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and 206 atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) isolated from ruminants.

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius isolates from different countries are clonal in nature.

Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius, a microaerophilic, catalase-negative bacteria, is the etiological agent of abscess disease, a specific chronic condition of sheep and goats, characterized by the formation of necrotic lesions that are typically located in superficial lymph nodes. In this study, molecular analysis including pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and accessory gene regulator (agr) typing was carried out on 94 S.

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of antimicrobial resistance in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and atypical enteropathogenic E. coli strains from ruminants.

Two hundred and twenty-six attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) strains (20 enterohemorrhagic E. coli and 206 atypical enteropathogenic E. coli) isolated from calves, lambs, and goat kids with diarrhea and from healthy cattle, sheep, and goats were tested for their resistance to 10 antimicrobial agents by the disc diffusion method.

Kinetics and role of antibodies against intimin beta in colostrum and in serum from goat kids and longitudinal study of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli in goat kids.

The presence of antibodies to the intimin beta-binding region (Int280-beta) of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) in serum from 20 goat kids from 2 herds, as well as in goat colostrum, was investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In addition, the onset and subsequent pattern of shedding of AEEC from the same goat kids over a 6-mo period was investigated. All the colostrum and serum samples tested contained antibodies against Int280-beta.