Anna Benini

• Specialist Degree in Biology
• Technician at University of Verona

Objective To investigate the presence of bacteria and fungi in bronchial aspirate (BA) samples from 43 mechanically ventilated patients with severe COVID-19 disease. Methods Detection of SARS-CoV-2 was performed using Allplex 2019-nCoV assay kits. Isolation and characterisation of bacteria and fungi were carried out in BA specimens treated with 1X...

An effective approach in the treatment of benzodiazepine (BZD) overdosing and detoxification is flumazenil (FLU). Studies in chronic users who discontinued BZD in a clinical setting suggested that multiple slow bolus infusions of FLU reduce BZD withdrawal symptoms. The aim of this study was to confirm FLU efficacy for reducing BZD withdrawal syndro...

Gentamicin (G) and vancomycin (V) concentrations in joints fluids obtained from patients during the first 24 hours after implantation of antibiotic-loaded polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) spacers in two-stage revision for infected arthroplasty, and the inhibitory activity of joint fluids against different multiresistant clinical isolates were studied....

Gentamicin (G) and vancomycin (V) concentrations in drainage fluids obtained from patients during the first 24 hours after implantation of antibiotic-loaded polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) spacers in two-stage revision of infected total hip arthroplasty were studied. The inhibitory activity of drainage fluids against different multiresistant clinical...

Local antibiotic diffusion in rabbit femurs from two new PMMA-based and nail-shaped composites, enriched with β-tricalcium phosphate (P-TCP) and BaSO4 or only with BaSO4 (P-BaSO4), and soaked in a solution of gentamicin (G) and vancomycin (V) was studied. Nails were implanted into the intramedullary cavity of healthy and osteomyelitic femurs to stu...

Even though the systemic antibiotic therapy is usually applied after prosthetic infections surgical treatments, it is unable to reach the infection site in sufficient concentrations to eradicate bacteria. Delivering antibiotics locally with the use of custom made device (spacer or nail coating) might eradicate or reduce the infection and the risk o...

The effects of probiotics on human health are positive and well defined in diarrhoea treatment. There are no clinical results regarding the relationship with dose or duration of treatment. The results from clinical studies have not been conclusive in that the effects of probiotic are dependent on strains, acute or chronic gastrointestinal infection...

The effects of six antimicrobial agents on rat intestinal microflora after oral and/or parenteral administration were studied in parallel. Antimicrobial drugs were administered by the oral (norfloxacin, pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin) and parenteral routes (pefloxacin, imipenem, aztreonam, teicoplanin) at the doses used in clinical practice. Faecal spec...

The composition of the intestinal flora is the result of host physiology, microbial interaction and environmental influences. The possible relationship between faecal flora composition and hormonal modifications in healthy women of different ages was studied. Forty-four normal women were divided into the following groups according to age: group I,...

Composition of the microbiota and 19 faecal enzyme activities in 21 young women (age range 21-35 yrs) with severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and the effect of probiotics administration were studied. PMS consists in emotional, behavioural and physical symptoms that recur regularly during the second half of each menstrual cycle. Sixteen women were g...

The effects of probiotics on human health are positive and well defined in diarrhoea treatment. There are no clinical results regarding the relationship with dose or duration of treatment. The results from clinical studies have not been conclusive in that the effects of probiotic are dependent on strains, acute or chronic gastrointestinal infection...

Piperacillin-tazobactam was administered as a single dose (4.5 g intravenous) to five patients with stabilized external pancreatic fistula. The penetration into pancreatic juice was prompt, and inhibitory concentrations were achieved and maintained for different periods (0.5 to 6 h) according to bacterial susceptibility and patients' characteristic...

Infection is the most serious complication following orthopaedic surgery. The frequency is low, but when present is difficult to treat. Systemic drug administration may not provide inhibitory concentration for a prolonged period, and this is further worsened by the decreased blood supply. The local delivery of antibiotics to the surgical area may m...

Gentamicin-loaded spacers are used in two-stage revision prosthesis to deliver high local antibiotic concentrations for the treatment of prosthetic infections [6, 18]. The concentration of antibiotics released largely exceeds the minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentration of susceptible bacteria.

Selected Lactobacillus casei strains were examined for their potential use in new probiotic fermented milks by evaluation of their technological performances, in vitro adhesion capacity and intestinal transit tolerance after administration to rats. Serum, tissue and faecal samples were analysed before and during treatments.The number of intestinal...

Evaluation of the delivery of gentamicin and vancomycin from polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) spacers before and after implantation for the treatment of total hip replacement infections. Twenty industrially produced spacers containing gentamicin (1.9%) were utilized. Vancomycin (2.5%) mixed with PMMA cement was used to fill holes drilled in the cement...

Despite recognition of the devastating malignant potential of the pancreatic ductal cancer, the exact pathophysiological events contributing to tumor growth remain to be elucidated. Expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 were found to be frequently elevated in several types of human cancer and have al...

The increase in resistance rates to antibiotics of bacteria isolated from infected hip joints, particularly staphylococci, prompted us to investigate the usefulness of antibiotic combinations such as gentamicin plus vancomycin. Cylinder test specimens of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement (Cemex, Tecres) containing gentamicin alone, vancomycin al...

Background: The value of oral bacteriotherapy during antibiotic treatment is a much debated subject. Comparative studies on the effects of different probiotics on the intestinal ecosystem are lacking.Objective: Six different commercially available preparations of probiotics and 1 prebiotic (lactulose) were compared to establish whether their action...

Chronic functional constipation is common in infants, and the bacterial composition of stools in this condition is not known. The study aims were to: (i) investigate the composition of the intestinal ecosystem in chronic functional constipation; (ii) establish whether the addition of the water-holding agent calcium polycarbophil to the diet induces...

Composition of the microbiota and 19 faecal enzyme activities in 21 young women (age range 21-35 yrs) with severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and the effect of probiotics administration were studied. PMS consists in emotional, behavioural and physical symptoms that recur regularly during the second half of each menstrual cycle. Sixteen women were g...

Pancreatic juice (PJ) should be a factor of variability in the antimicrobial activity of antibiotics eliminated by the pancreas during pancreatic infections. We studied its effects on the activity of antimicrobial drugs with different mechanisms of action. Samples of pure PJ were collected from 16 patients with stabilized external pancreatic fistul...

Objective: In this study we evaluated the pharmacokinetics, efficacy and safety of dapsone given 100 mg twice weekly as primary prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in patients with HIV-1 infection. Methods: This was a prospective open trial, evaluating a total of 55 HIV-1-infected patients with CD4 cell counts below 200/mm3 and...

Antibiotic prophylaxis may be useful in acute necrotising pancreatis, a disease associated with a considerable incidence of infectious complications. The aim of this study was to assess pefloxacin penetration into necrotic pancreatic tissue during human necrotic pancreatitis. Ten patients (mean age 53.2 +/- 17.4 years) with severe acute pancreatiti...

The aim of the study was to verify whether antibiotics excreted by the normal pancreas are also excreted in human necrotizing pancreatitis, reaching the tissue sites of the infection. Twelve patients suffering from acute necrotizing pancreatitis were treated with imipenem-cilastatin (0.5 g), mezlocillin (2 g), gentamicin (0.08 g), amikacin (0.5 g),...

The composition of the intestinal flora is the result of host physiology, microbial interaction and environmental influences. The possible relationship between faecal flora composition and hormonal modifications in healthy women of different ages was studied. Forty-four normal women were divided into the following groups according to age: group I,...