Direct disk testing versus isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of urine from urinary tract infection.

Background And Objectives: Urinary tract infections are common infections that can be caused by many bacterial pathogens. The susceptibility of such pathogens to antimicrobial agents is identified by different methods including disk diffusion test, direct sensitivity testing and determination minimum inhibitory concentration. The present study was conducted to isolate and identify bacteria cultured from urine samples and compare the results of direct sensitivity test (DST) against Kirby-Bauer's disk diffusion antimicrobial sensitivity (AST) with respect to reliability, time and cost.

Nuclear trafficking, histone cleavage and induction of apoptosis by the meningococcal App and MspA autotransporters.

Neisseria meningitidis, a major cause of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia, secretes multiple virulence factors, including the adhesion and penetration protein (App) and meningococcal serine protease A (MspA). Both are conserved, immunogenic, type Va autotransporters harbouring S6-family serine endopeptidase domains. Previous work suggested that both could mediate adherence to human cells, but their precise contribution to meningococcal pathogenesis was unclear.

Human antibody responses to the meningococcal factor H binding protein (LP2086) during invasive disease, colonization and carriage.

Recombinant forms of Neisseria meningitidis factor H binding protein (fHBP) are undergoing clinical trials in candidate vaccines against serogroup B meningococcal disease. Little is known, however, about the host response to fHBP during natural carriage and disease. Here we report a longitudinal study of the antibody response to fHBP in healthy meningococcal carriers and non-carriers, and in patients with invasive meningococcal disease.