Journal of Medical Microbiology (J MED MICROBIOL)

Publications in this journal

• Article: Aetiology and antibiotic resistance patterns of urinary tract infections in the elderly: a six months study.

  De Vecchi E, Sitia S, Romanò CL, Ricci C, Mattina R, Drago L
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 03/2013;
• Article: May Staphylococcus pseudintermedius be nonhemolytic?

  Savini V, Carretto E, Polakowska K, Fazii P, Międzobrodzki J, D’Antonio D
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 01/2013;
• Article: Oral candida colonization in HIV positive women: associated factors and changes with antiretroviral therapy

  Owotade FJ, Patel M, Ralephenya TRMD, Vergotine G
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 01/2013; 62:126-132.
• Article: Artemisia annua leaves and seeds mediate programmed cell death in Leishmania donovani promastigotes

  Mohammad Islamuddin, Abdullah Farooque, Bilikere Srinivasa Rao Dwarakanath, Dinkar Sahal, Farhat Afrin
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 01/2012;
• Article: Development of a thermostabilized, one-step, nested, tetraplex PCR assay for simultaneous identification and differentiation of Entamoeba species, Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar from stool samples PC Foo, YY Chan, WCS Too, ZN Tan, WK Wong, P Lalitha, BH Lim Journal of Medical Microbiology 61 (Pt 9), 1219-1225

  WK Wong, P Lalitha, BH Lim, Foo Phiaw Chong, Chan Yean Yean, See Too Wei Cun, Tan Zi Ning, Wong Weng Kin, Lalita Pattabhiraman, Lim Boon Huat
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 01/2012;
• Article: Microbial community and metabolomic comparison of irritable bowel syndrome faeces.

  Ponnusamy K, Choi J.N, Kim J, Lee S.Y, Lee C.H
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  ABSTRACT: Human health relies on the composition of microbiota in an individual’s gut and the synthesized metabolites that may alter the gut environment. Gut microbiota and faecal metabolites are involved in several gastrointestinal diseases. In this study, 16S rRNA-specific denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and quantitative PCR analysis showed that the mean similarity of total bacteria was significantly different (P<0.001) in faecal samples from patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS; n = 11) and from non-IBS (nIBS) patients (n = 8). IBS subjects had a significantly higher diversity of total bacteria, as measured by the Shannon index (H′) (3.36<H′<4.37, P = 0.004), Bacteroidetes and lactobacilli; however, less diversity was observed for Bifidobacter (1.7< H′<3.08, P<0.05) and Clostridium coccoides (0.9< H′<2.98, P = 0.007). In this study, no significant difference was found in total bacterial quantity (P>0.05). GC/MS-based multivariate analysis delineated the faecal metabolites of IBS from nIBS samples. Elevated levels of amino acids (alanine and pyroglutamic acid) and phenolic compounds (hydroxyphenyl acetate and hydroxyphenyl propionate) were found in IBS. These results were highly correlated with the abundance of lactobacilli and Clostridium, which indicates an altered metabolism rate associated with these gut micro-organisms. A higher diversity of Bacteroidetes and Lactobacillus groups in IBS faecal samples also correlated with the respective total quantity. In addition, these changes altered protein and carbohydrate energy metabolism in the gut.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 06/2011;
• Article: Distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis genovars among youths and adults in Brazil

  Ana C S Machado, Claudiu I Bandea, Maria F C Alves, Kahaliah Joseph, Joseph Igietseme, Angélica E Miranda, Eleuse M B Guimarães, Marília D Turchi, Carolyn M Black
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  ABSTRACT: Despite a high prevalence of sexually transmitted Chlamydia trachomatis infections in Brazil and other countries in South America, very little is known about the distribution of C. trachomatis genovars. In this study, we genotyped C. trachomatis strains from urine or endocervical specimens collected from 163 C. trachomatis-positive female and male youths, and female adults, residing in two different regions of Brazil, the city of Goiânia located in the central part of Brazil, and the city of Vitória in the south-east region. C. trachomatis strains were genotyped by amplifying and sequencing the ompA gene encoding the chlamydial major outer-membrane protein, which is genovar specific. We found nine different C. trachomatis genovars: E (39.3%), F (16.6%), D (15.9%), I (8.6%), J (7.4%), G (4.9%), K (3.1%), H (2.4%) and B (1.8%). The distribution of the C. trachomatis genovars in the two regions of Brazil was similar, and there was no statistically significant association of serovars with age, gender, number of sexual partners or clinical symptoms. The overall distribution of C. trachomatis genovars in Brazil appears similar to that found in other regions of the world, where E, D and F are the most common. This supports the notion that, during the last few decades, the overall distribution of C. trachomatis genovars throughout the world has been relatively stable.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 04/2011; 60((Pt4)):472-6.
• Article: Clinical presentation and molecular characterization of group B rotaviruses in diarrhea patients in Bangladesh

  Farjana Saiada, H. N. Ashiqur Rahman, Sayra Moni, M. Manjurul Karim, Mahmoud Reza Pourkarim, Tasnim Azim, Mustafizur Rahman
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  ABSTRACT: A total of 1106 stool samples collected from diarrhoea patients admitted to Dhaka hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, during January–December 2008 were analysed for the presence of rotavirus-specific RNA by PAGE. The group B-specific RNA migration pattern was detected in 26 patients (2.4 %) and group A-specific pattern in 259 patients (23.4 %). Clinical data from group A and group B rotavirus-infected patients indicated that episodes did not differ much in the prevalence of diarrhoea, number of stools, outcome or differences in gender. However, abdominal pain was more common in group B rotavirus infections (36 vs 15 %, P50.02) and the virus was responsible for more severe dehydration compared with group A-infected patients (12 vs 3%, P50.04). Sequence analyses of VP4, VP7 and NSP2 indicated that an Indian–Bangladeshi lineage of the virus, which is different from both the prototype (Chinese) lineage and from the animal group B rotaviruses, has been circulating in Bangladesh. Continuous monitoring of group B rotaviruses both in hospitals and in the community will be helpful to determine the true burden of group B rotaviruses. INTRODUCTION Rotaviruses are a common cause of gastroenteritis worldwide. Of the six major serogroups (A–G), rotaviruses of groups A–C are associated with acute gastroenteritis in both humans and animals, whilst groups D–G have been detected only in animals (Bridger, 1987; Cashman et al., 2010; Collins et al., 2008a, b; Estes & Kapikian, 2007; Hung et al., 1983; Reidy et al., 2006). Group B rotavirus, occasionally called adult diarrhoea rotavirus, is distinct genetically and antigenically from group A and group C rotaviruses (Saif & Jiang, 1994). The prevalence of group B rotaviruses is not as high as that of group A rotaviruses; however, serological findings indicate that group B rotaviruses are distributed widely and that most people acquire antibodies to
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 01/2011; 60:529–536.
• Article: Recent Trends in the antimicrobial resistance in uropathogens

  Mehvish Saleem shah, Betty daniel
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 01/2011;
• Article: Distribution of Escherichia coli F4 adhesion phenotypes in pigs of 15 Chinese and Western breeds and a White DurocxErhualian intercross.

  Xueming Yan, Xiang Huang, Jun Ren, Zhengzhi Zou, Shujin Yang, Jing Ouyang, Weihong Zeng, Bin Yang, Shijun Xiao, Lusheng Huang
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  ABSTRACT: Diarrhoea in newborn and weaned piglets is mainly caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) with fimbriae F4. To investigate the prevalence of resistance to three fimbrial strains, F4ab, F4ac and F4ad, among Chinese indigenous pigs and Western commercial pigs introduced into China, we determined the ETEC F4 adhesion phenotypes in 292 pure-bred piglets from three Western commercial breeds and 12 Chinese indigenous breeds, and a total of 1093 adult pigs in a White DurocxErhualian intercross, by an in vitro microscopic adhesion assay. All the Tibet and Lantang pigs and a majority of the Erhualian and Rongchang pigs were resistant (nonadherent) to ETEC F4 whereas all the Laiwu pigs and most of the Jiangquhai and Tongcheng pigs were susceptible (adhesive) to at least one of the F4 strains. Yushan Black pigs were uniformly resistant to F4ab, and Jinhua pigs were predominantly resistant to F4ac. Susceptible and resistant animals were observed in the other breeds, indicating that diarrhoea caused by ETEC F4 could be prevalent in these breeds. This study confirmed the existence of eight previously reported F4 adhesion patterns, and supported the assumption that the three F4 receptors are encoded by distinct loci. Expression of the weakly adherent phenotype was observed in six pure-bred piglets and 90 adult F(2)/F(3) animals, and the inheritance of this phenotype and its correlation with susceptibility to disease are still not known.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 09/2009; 58(Pt 8):1112-7.
• Article: Tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry as tools for evaluation of antibodies against Chlamydia-like bacteria.

  Nicole Borel, Nicola Casson, José M Entenza, Carmen Kaiser, Andreas Pospischil, Gilbert Greub
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  ABSTRACT: Tissue microarray technology was used to establish immunohistochemistry protocols and to determine the specificity of new antisera against various Chlamydia-like bacteria for future use on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues. The antisera exhibited strong reactivity against autologous antigen and closely related heterologous antigen, but no cross-reactivity with distantly related species.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):863-6.
• Article: Emergence of carbapenem-non-susceptible extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates at the university hospital of Tübingen, Germany.

  Sabine Gröbner, Dirk Linke, Wolfgang Schütz, Claudia Fladerer, Johannes Madlung, Ingo B Autenrieth, Wolfgang Witte, Yvonne Pfeifer
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  ABSTRACT: The spread of Gram-negative bacteria with plasmid-borne extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) has become a worldwide problem. This study analysed a total of 366 ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae strains isolated from non-selected patient specimens at the university hospital of Tübingen in the period January 2003 to December 2007. Although the overall ESBL rate was comparatively low (1.6 %), the percentages of ESBL-producing Enterobacter spp. and Escherichia coli increased from 0.8 and 0.5 %, respectively, in 2003 to 4.6 and 3.8 % in 2007. In particular, the emergence was observed of one carbapenem-resistant ESBL-producing E. coli isolate and five carbapenem-non-susceptible ESBL-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates, in two of which carbapenem resistance development was documented in vivo under a meropenem-containing antibiotic regime. The possible underlying mechanism for this carbapenem resistance in three of the K. pneumoniae isolates was loss of the Klebsiella porin channel protein OmpK36 as shown by PCR analysis. The remaining two K. pneumoniae isolates exhibited increased expression of a tripartite AcrAB-TolC efflux pump as demonstrated by SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry analysis of bacterial outer-membrane extracts, which, in addition to other unknown mechanisms, may contribute towards increasing the carbapenem MIC values further. Carbapenem-non-susceptible ESBL isolates may pose a new problem in the future due to possible outbreak situations and limited antibiotic treatment options. Therefore, a systematic exploration of intestinal colonization with ESBL isolates should be reconsidered, at least for haemato-oncological departments from where four of the five carbapenem-non-susceptible ESBL isolates originated.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):912-22.
• Article: The cationic peptide magainin II is antimicrobial for Burkholderia cepacia-complex strains.

  Joanne E Thwaite, Suzanne Humphrey, Marc A Fox, Victoria L Savage, Thomas R Laws, David O Ulaeto, Richard W Titball, Helen S Atkins
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  ABSTRACT: This study was undertaken to determine the antibacterial activity of eight cationic antimicrobial peptides towards strains of genomovars I-V of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) in time-kill assays. All but one of the peptides failed to show activity against the panel of test strains. The exception was magainin II, a 23 aa peptide isolated from the epidermis of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, which exhibited significant bactericidal activity for Bcc genomovars most frequently associated with lung infection of patients with cystic fibrosis. In vitro studies indicated that magainin II protected a human bronchial epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B) from killing by Bcc and suggest that this peptide may have therapeutic potential against these organisms.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):923-9.
• Article: Escherichia coli O123 O antigen genes and polysaccharide structure are conserved in some Salmonella enterica serogroups.

  Clifford G Clark, Andrew M Kropinski, Haralambos Parolis, Christopher C R Grant, Keri M Trout-Yakel, Kristyn Franklin, Lai-King Ng, Nikolay A Paramonov, Lesley A S Parolis, Kris Rahn, Helen Tabor
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  ABSTRACT: The serotyping of O and H antigens is an important first step in the characterization of Salmonella enterica. However, serotyping has become increasingly technically demanding and expensive to perform. We have therefore sequenced additional S. enterica O antigen gene clusters to provide information for the development of DNA-based serotyping methods. Three S. enterica isolates had O antigen gene clusters with homology to the Escherichia coli O123 O antigen region. O antigen clusters from two serogroup O58 S. enterica strains had approximately 85 % identity with the E. coli O123 O antigen region over their entire length, suggesting that these Salmonella and E. coli O antigen regions evolved from a common ancestor. The O antigen cluster of a Salmonella serogroup O41 isolate had a lower level of identity with E. coli O123 over only part of its O antigen DNA cluster sequence, suggesting a different and more complex evolution of this gene cluster than those in the O58 strains. A large part of the Salmonella O41 O antigen DNA cluster had very close identity with the O antigen cluster of an O62 strain. This region of DNA homology included the wzx and wzy genes. Therefore, molecular serotyping tests using only the O41 or O62 wzx and wzy genes would not differentiate between the two serogroups. The E. coli O123 O-antigenic polysaccharide and its repeating unit were characterized, and the chemical structure for E. coli O123 was entirely consistent with the O antigen gene cluster sequences of E. coli O123 and the Salmonella O58 isolates. An understanding of both the genetic and structural composition of Salmonella and E. coli O antigens is necessary for the development of novel molecular methods for serotyping these organisms.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):884-94.
• Article: Asaia lannaensis bloodstream infection in a child with cancer and bone marrow transplantation.

  Nahed Abdel-Haq, Süreyya Savaşan, Melissa Davis, Basim I Asmar, Theresa Painter, Hossein Salimnia
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):974-6.
• Article: Effects of fosfomycin on Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli: quantification of copy numbers of Shiga toxin-encoding genes and their expression levels using real-time PCR.

  Naoko Ichinohe, Yuko Ohara-Nemoto, Takayuki K Nemoto, Shigenobu Kimura, Sadato Ichinohe
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):971-3.
• Article: Cutaneous infection caused by Aspergillus terreus.

  Burcin Ozer, Aydiner Kalaci, Nizami Duran, Yunus Dogramaci, Ahmet Nedim Yanat
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  ABSTRACT: Aspergillus species are widely distributed in nature, and more than 30 species have been reported to be involved in human and animal infection. Cutaneous infections due to Aspergillus terreus are particularly rare. In this report, we describe a case of cutaneous infection caused by A. terreus in a paediatric patient who underwent surgical treatment for an open tibial fracture secondary to an agricultural accident.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):968-70.
• Article: Evaluation of new selective culture media and a rapid fluorescence in situ hybridization assay for identification of Clostridium difficile from stool samples.

  Kathrin Bloedt, Melanie Riecker, Sven Poppert, Nele Wellinghausen
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  ABSTRACT: Two new Clostridium difficile-selective agars, from Oxoid (according to Brazier) and from BD, were compared with cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar (Oxoid) for their sensitivity of recovery of toxigenic C. difficile from stool samples. For the culture-positive samples, the sensitivities were 84.0, 42.6 and 90.4 %, respectively. In addition, a C. difficile-specific fluorescence in situ hybridization assay was developed, facilitating rapid and reliable identification of cultured isolates.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):874-7.
• Article: Comparison of an in-house PCR assay, direct fluorescence assay and the Roche AMPLICOR Chlamydia trachomatis kit for detection of C. trachomatis.

  Poonam Sachdeva, Achchhe Lal Patel, Divya Sachdev, Mashook Ali, Aruna Mittal, Daman Saluja
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  ABSTRACT: To improve the control of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in India, a rapid, specific and cost-effective method is much needed. We developed an in-house PCR assay by targeting a unique genomic sequence encoding a protein from the C. trachomatis phospholipase D endonuclease superfamily that produces an amplified fragment of 368 bp. The specificity of the primers was confirmed using genomic DNA from other sexually transmitted disease-causing and related micro-organisms and from humans. The assay was highly sensitive and could detect as low as 10 fg C. trachomatis DNA. Clinical evaluation of the in-house-developed PCR was carried out using 450 endocervical specimens that were divided in two groups. In group I (n=274), in-house PCR was evaluated against the direct fluorescence assay. The resolved sensitivity of the in-house PCR method was 97.22 % compared with 88 % for the direct fluorescent antibody assay. In group II (n=176), the in-house PCR was compared with the commercial Roche AMPLICOR MWP CT detection kit. The resolved sensitivity of the in-house PCR assay reported here was 93.1 % and the specificity was 97.46 %, making it a cost-effective alternative for routine diagnosis of genital infection by C. trachomatis. The method should facilitate early detection leading to better prevention and treatment of genital infection in India.
  Journal of Medical Microbiology 08/2009; 58(Pt 7):867-73.