Novel sensitive immunosensor for the selective detection of Engrailed 2 urinary prostate cancer biomarker.

Engrailed 2 (EN2) is a homeodomain-containing transcription factor expressed in prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines and is secreted into the urines. It is nowadays considered as a promising non-invasive biomarker for PCa early diagnosis. Herein, we report the design of an electrochemical immunosensor for EN2 detection.

ePHex: a phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study to evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of Oxalobacter formigenes in patients with primary hyperoxaluria.

Background: Primary hyperoxalurias (PHs) are rare genetic diseases that increase the endogenous level of oxalate, a waste metabolite excreted predominantly by the kidneys and also the gut. Treatments aim to improve oxalate excretion, or reduce oxalate generation, to prevent kidney function deterioration. Oxalobacter formigenes is an oxalate metabolizing bacterium.

Computational approach and electrochemical measurements for protein detection with MIP-based sensor.

Rapid and accurate detection of proteins in biological fluids is increasingly required in the biomedical environment. Actually, it is performed with conventional techniques, which are generally run by robotized platforms at centralized laboratories. In this work, molecular dynamics calculations and an experimental procedure were conducted to set up electrochemical sensors based on polypyrrol (PPy) molecular imprinted polymers (MIP) for proteins detection.

Spread of -Producing Enterobacteriaceae and OXA-23-Producing Acinetobacter baumannii Sequence Type 2 in Tunisian Seafood.

Bivalves are filter-feeding animals and markers of bacterial pollution. We report a massive spread of through dominant and lineages and/or plasmid subtypes (F31:A4:B1) as well as the presence of OXA-23-producing sequence type 2 (ST2) in seafood, highlighting a direct risk for the consumer. These findings should urge authorities to consider hospital effluents, and also farm and urban effluents, as important sources of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase (ESBL)/carbapenemase producers that filter-feeding animals can concentrate and further spread to humans.

[Bacteriology of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Tunisia].

Introduction: The role of bacteria, including atypical organisms, in acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) has been assessed in various ways in Tunisia.

Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical study of patients with a mean age of 68.3±10.

Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Sensors for PSA Detection: Related Surface Functionalization Strategies.

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the world. The diagnosis, staging, prognosis and monitoring are usually done with Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). Biosensors are emerging as a novel analytical technology for PSA detection.

Outbreak of colistin-resistant carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in Tunisia.

Objectives: Mechanisms of colistin and carbapenem resistance among a collection of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates recovered in a university hospital in Tunisia were studied.

Methods: In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing, S1 nuclease pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (S1-PFGE), Southern blotting and PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT) were performed. Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), carbapenemases, AmpC-type enzymes and mgrB genes were detected by PCR and sequencing.

Extended-spectrum β-lactamases and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance in enterobacterial clinical isolates from neonates in Tunisia.

This study was conducted to investigate extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates from the Center of Maternity and Neonatology of Monastir, Tunisia. Fourty-six strains out of 283 were found to produce ESBL: Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 37), Escherichia coli (n = 6), Enterobacter cloacae (n = 2), and Citrobacter freundi (n = 1). Genotyping analysis, using ERIC2 and RAPD, showed that strains were clonally unrelated.

Characterizing the Retinal Function of Psammomys obesus: A Diurnal Rodent Model to Study Human Retinal Function.

Purpose: To compare the retinal function of a diurnal murid rodent, Psammomys obesus, with that of Wistar albino rat and human subjects.

Materials And Methods: Adult Psammomys obesus were captured and transferred to the animal facilities where they were maintained at 25°C with standard light/dark cycles and natural halophilic plants, rich in water and mineral salts. Standard full-field photopic and scotopic electroretinograms were obtained.

[Bowel-associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome during ulcerative colitis: A rare extra-intestinal sign of inflammatory bowel disease].

Introduction: Bowel-associated dermatosis-arthritis syndrome (BADAS) is characterized by combined pustular skin eruption and arthralgia. It may be associated with inflammatory bowel disease or bowel bypass surgery. We report a case of BADAS in a patient with ulcerative colitis.

Emergence of ST147 Klebsiella pneumoniae Producing OXA-204 Carbapenemase in a University Hospital, Tunisia.

Molecular features of the first carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates (KP1 and KP2) from the University Hospital Tahar Sfar, Tunisia, were investigated. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, multilocus sequence typing, S1 nuclease pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Southern blot, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based replicon typing were performed. Extended-spectrum β-lactamases and carbapenemase genes were detected by PCR and sequencing.

Dissemination of multidrug-resistant blaCTX-M-15/IncFIIk plasmids in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from hospital- and community-acquired human infections in Tunisia.

This study investigated the molecular features of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae from hospital- and community-acquired (HA/CA) infections in the region of Mahdia, Tunisia. Among 336 K. pneumoniae isolates recovered from both clinical contexts between July 2009 and December 2011, 49 and 15 were ESBL producers and originated from clinical and community sources, respectively.

Cerebral abscess potentially of odontogenic origin.

Odontogenic origins are rarely implicated in the formation of brain abscesses. The relative paucity of this kind of infection and the difficulty in matching the causative microorganisms of a brain abscess to an odontogenic source can explain the late management of patients. We herein describe a case of a 46-year-old man with a cerebellar abscess that was probably due to an odontogenic infection.

[Influence of diabetes mellitus on the prognosis of non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes].

Aim Of Study: Analyze the influence of diabetes mellitus on the prognosis, at short and middle term of patients with non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome.

Patients And Method: We conducted a retrospective review of 308 consecutive medical records of patients admitted to the care unit of our department with a non-ST-segment-elevation acute coronary syndrome. One hundred and fifty-six patients were diabetics (group 1) and 152 were not (group 2).

[Correlation of TIMI risk score with angiographic extent and severity of coronary artery disease in non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes].

Aim Of Study: To determine whether the TIMI risk score correlates with the angiographic extent and severity of coronary artery disease in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome undergoing cardiac catheterization.

Patients And Method: We conducted a retrospective review of 239 medical records of patients who underwent coronary angiography secondary to non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome between 2002 and 2006. Patients were classified into three groups according to TIMI risk score: TIMI scores 0 to 2 (group 1: n=121), 3 to 4 (group 2: n=100), and 5 to 7 (group 3: n=18).

[Immunological profile of coeliac disease in a subgroup of patients with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome].

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine if authentic cases of irritable bowel syndrome could be secondary in a latent or potential coeliac disease.

Methods: All new patients who consulted for irritable bowel syndrome fulfilling Rome II criteria between 01/04/2003 and 30/03/2004 were included. All patients had upper endoscopy with duodenal biopsy and colonoscopy or enema.

[Effect of polymorphisms on key enzymes in homocysteine metabolism, on plasma homocysteine level and on coronary artery-disease risk in a Tunisian population].

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia is known as an independent-risk factor for coronary-artery disease (CAD). However, the effect of homocystein metabolic enzymes polymorphisms on CAD is still controversed. We investigated the relation between homocystein metabolic key enzymes polymorphisms, homocystenemia and coronary stenosis in a Tunisian population.

[Crohn's disease: influence of age at diagnosis on clinical type of disease].

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was to examine the influence of age at diagnosis of Crohn's disease on disease site and course in Tunisian patients.

Methods: All hospital patients for Crohn's disease between 1993 and 2002 were included. They were segregated by age at diagnosis as follows: younger than 20 years, 20-39 years, and 40 years or older.

[Role of mitochondrial dysfunction in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis].

The non alcoholic steatohepatitis is a more and more frequent disease. Great progress in the physiopathologic mechanisms has been recently observed. The mitochondrial dysfunction seems to be the main mechanism implied in the necroticoinflammatory genesis of the non alcoholic steatohepatitis lesions.

[Predictive factors of recurrent hemorrhage in duodenal ulcer: report of 208 cases].

The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical, biological and endoscopic predictive factors of recurrent bleeding. Two hundred and eight patients (169 males/39 females) with a bleeding from duodenal ulcers, confirmed by an endoscopy, were included in a retrospective study performed over 3 years. Forrest classification was used to describe endoscopic stigmata of bleeding.

[Predictive factors of recurrence after surgery in severe attacks of hemorrhagic ulcerative proctocolitis].

Aim: The purpose of our study was to determine clinical, biological or endoscopic factors that predict surgery after a glucocortico steroid treatment failure in severe attacks of ulcerative colitis.

Methods: Sixty one patients were analyzed. A therapeutic response for glucocorticosteroid was defined as the absence of resort to surgery within the first 30 days after hospitalization.

[Predictive factors of intestinal stenosis in Crohn's disease].

Unlabelled: The aim of our study was to determine demographic, clinical, biological or endoscopic factors that predict intestinal stenosis in Crohn's disease.

Patients And Methods: One hundred and twenty one patients were retrospectively analyzed during 10 years. The diagnosis of stenosis were determined by morphologic and endoscopic exams independently of appearance of symptoms.