Differences of the Fecal Microflora With Clostridium difficile Therapies.

Background: During treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), patterns of pathogen reduction in relationship to changes in components of the normal microbiota are hypothesized to be predictive of response to treatment and subsequent sustained cure.

Methods: At a single center, subjects enrolled into phase 2 and 3 C. difficile treatment clinical trials (2003-2008) provided fecal samples to assess killing of C.

IDH mutation detection in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded gliomas using multiplex PCR and single-base extension.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes are mutated in a significant portion of gliomas, myeloid leukemias and chondroid neoplasms. In gliomas, IDH mutations are prognostic, as those tumors with the mutation are associated with a proneural subclass and have longer survival compared with those without the mutation. We developed a simple, PCR-based SNaPshot® assay (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) to detect IDH1/2 mutations.

Nosocomial outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa with a new bla(IMP) allele, bla(IMP-7).

Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from an outbreak in Canada were highly resistant to carbapenems and ceftazidime but not piperacillin. They produced a novel integron-associated metallo-beta-lactamase, designated IMP-7, with 91% identity to IMP-1. bla(IMP-7) was not detected with standard bla(IMP)-specific primers, owing to mismatches in the forward primer.