Streptococcus pneumoniae induces expression of the antibacterial CXC chemokine MIG/CXCL9 via MyD88-dependent signaling in a murine model of airway infection.

MIG/CXCL9 belongs to the CXC family of chemokines and participates in the regulation of leukocyte-trafficking and angiogenesis. Certain chemokines, including human MIG/CXCL9, exert strong antibacterial activity in vitro, although the importance of this property in vivo is unknown. In the present study, we investigated the expression and a possible role for MIG/CXCL9 in host defense during mucosal airway infection caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in vivo. We found that intranasal challenge of C57BL/6 wild-type mice with pneumococci elicited production of high levels of MIG/CXCL9 in the lungs via the MyD88-dependent signaling pathway. Whereas both human and murine MIG/CXCL9 showed efficient killing of S. pneumoniae in vitro, MIG/CXCL9 knock-out mice were not more susceptible to pneumococcal infection. Our data demonstrate that, in vivo this chemokine probably has a redundant role, acting together with other antibacterial peptides and chemokines, in innate and adaptive host defense mechanisms against pneumococcal infections

Cyclic Cushing's syndrome: an overview

Cyclic Cushing's syndrome (CS) is a disorder in which glucocorticoid levels are alternately normal and high, the latter occurring in episodes that can last from a few days to several months. It is more common in children than in adults. Cyclic CS may be either of the two different forms of CS (ACTH-dependent or -independent CS). Clinically, it may present with one or many symptoms, depending on the duration of disease activity and the timing of the fluctuations. A serotoninergic influence, cyclic changes in central dopaminergic tone, spontaneous episodic hemorrhage in the tumor, and the action of inflammatory cytokines with antitumor properties are some of the mechanisms suggested to explain the physiopathology of this phenomenon but the exact mechanism remains to be clarified. The cyclic pattern of hypercortisolism can delay the final diagnosis of CS and make it difficult to interpret the results of dynamic tests. Patients may have paradoxical responses to dexamethasone that can reflect increasing or decreasing levels of endogenous activity. Hormone assessments have to be repeated periodically when a diagnosis of CS is suspected. The cyclic pattern can also interfere with medical treatment because patients may show unexpected clinical and biochemical signs of hypocortisolism when cortisol secretion cyclically returns to normal, so an accurate follow-up is mandatory in these patients

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceaein Europe: assessment by national experts from 38 countries, May 2015

European Survey of Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE) working group collaborators: Koraqi A, Bino S, Hartl R, Apfalter P, Glupczynski Y, Jans B, Marković T, Dedeić- Ljubović A, Kojić D, Strateva T, Sabtcheva S, Butić I, Andrašević AT, Pieridou-Bagatzouni D, Panayiota M, Hrabák J, Žemličková H, Hammerum AM, Skov R, Ivanova M, Jalava J, Dortet L, Vaux S, Kaase M, Eckmanns T, Vatopoulos A, Giamarellou H, Tóth Á, Kurcz A, Hardarson H, Kristinsson K, Boo TW, Burns K, Carmeli Y, Pantosti A, Kurti A, Raka L, Balode A, Miciulevičienė J, Valintėlienė R, Perrin-Weniger M, Nestorova N, Borg M, Mijović G, Mugosa B, Meessen N, de Greeff S, Samuelsen Ø, Simonsen GS, Żabicka D, Hryniewicz W, Caniça M, Paiva JA, Kaftandzieva A, Memeti S, Damian M, Codita I, Jelesić Z, Stevanovic G, Nikš M, Schréterová E, Pirš M, Kolman J, Oteo J, Campos J, Giske CG, Sjöström K, Gür D, Ekmekci E, Wiuff C, Hopkins K, Woodford N, Cantón R, Friedrich AW, Gniadkowski M, Poirel L, Rossolini GM, Seifert H, Walsh T, Livermore D, Nordmann P.In 2012, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) launched the 'European survey of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE)' project to gain insights into the occurrence and epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), to increase the awareness of the spread of CPE, and to build and enhance the laboratory capacity for diagnosis and surveillance of CPE in Europe. Data collected through a post-EuSCAPE feedback questionnaire in May 2015 documented improvement compared with 2013 in capacity and ability to detect CPE and identify the different carbapenemases genes in the 38 participating countries, thus contributing to their awareness of and knowledge about the spread of CPE. Over the last two years, the epidemiological situation of CPE worsened, in particular with the rapid spread of carbapenem-hydrolysing oxacillinase-48 (OXA-48)- and New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)-producing Enterobacteriaceae. In 2015, 13/38 countries reported inter-regional spread of or an endemic situation for CPE, compared with 6/38 in 2013. Only three countries replied that they had not identified one single case of CPE. The ongoing spread of CPE represents an increasing threat to patient safety in European hospitals, and a majority of countries reacted by establishing national CPE surveillances systems and issuing guidance on control measures for health professionals. However, 14 countries still lacked specific national guidelines for prevention and control of CPE in mid-2015

European Antibiotic Awareness Day: a five-year perspective of Europe-wide actions to promote prudent use of antibiotics.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Following the European Union (EU) Council Recommendation on prudent use of antimicrobial agents in human medicine in 2001, and the success of national campaigns, i.e. Belgium and France, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) decided to establish the European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) on 18 November as platform to support national campaigns across Europe. This article provides an overview of EAAD tools, materials, and activities developed during the first five years. It shows that EAAD has been successful due to good cooperation between ECDC and national institutions, strong political and stakeholder support and evidence-based development of campaign materials. EAAD has provided a platform for pre-existing national campaigns and encouraged similar campaigns to develop where neither political support had been secured, nor financial support had been available. As a result, participating countries have continuously expressed strong support for ECDC to continue its work on EAAD. This has been endorsed by a steadily increasing number of countries participating and the growing interest of varied professional and stakeholder organisations. We conclude that EAAD should continue to act as catalyst for discussion and as mechanism to raise awareness of the public and prescribers about prudent use of antibiotics

The GIP/GIPR axis is functionally linked to GH-secretion increase in a significant proportion of gsp(-) somatotropinomas

Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIPR) overexpression has been recently described in a proportion of gsp(-) somatotropinomas and suggested to be associated with the paradoxical increase of GH (GH-PI) during an oral glucose load

Worsening epidemiological situation of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in Europe, assessment by national experts from 37 countries, July 2018

European Antimicrobial Resistance Genes Surveillance Network (EURGen-Net) capacity survey group (Portugal): Manuela Caniça, Vera Manageiro,A survey on the epidemiological situation, surveillance and containment activities for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) was conducted in European countries in 2018. All 37 participating countries reported CPE cases. Since 2015, the epidemiological stage of CPE expansion has increased in 11 countries. Reference laboratory capability, dedicated surveillance and a specific national containment plan are in existence in 33, 27 and 14 countries, respectively. Enhanced control efforts are needed for CPE containment in Europe.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in Europe:assessment by national experts from 38 countries, May 2015

In 2012, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) launched the 'European survey of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE)' project to gain insights into the occurrence and epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), to increase the awareness of the spread of CPE, and to build and enhance the laboratory capacity for diagnosis and surveillance of CPE in Europe. Data collected through a post-EuSCAPE feedback questionnaire in May 2015 documented improvement compared with 2013 in capacity and ability to detect CPE and identify the different carbapenemases genes in the 38 participating countries, thus contributing to their awareness of and knowledge about the spread of CPE. Over the last two years, the epidemiological situation of CPE worsened, in particular with the rapid spread of carbapenem-hydrolysing oxacillinase-48 (OXA-48)-and New Delhi metallo-betalactamase (NDM)-producing Enterobacteriaceae. In 2015, 13/38 countries reported inter-regional spread of or an endemic situation for CPE, compared with 6/38 in 2013. Only three countries replied that they had not identified one single case of CPE. The ongoing spread of CPE represents an increasing threat to patient safety in European hospitals, and a majority of countries reacted by establishing national CPE surveillances systems and issuing guidance on control measures for health professionals. However, 14 countries still lacked specific national guidelines for prevention and control of CPE in mid-2015

Quantitative analysis of the immune response upon Salmonella typhimurium infection along the porcine intestinal gut

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium causes enteric disease and compromises food safety. In pigs, the molecular response of the intestine to S. typhimurium has been traditionally characterized by in vitro models that do not reflect the actual immunological competence of the intestinal mucosa. In this work, we performed an oral S. typhimurium infection study to obtain insight into the in vitro response in three different sections (jejunum, ileum and colon) of the porcine intestine. For this, samples from one-month-old infected piglets were collected during a time course comprising 1, 2, and 6 days post inoculation to evaluate the intestinal response by quantifying the mRNA expression of gene coding for 28 innate immune system molecules using quantitative real-time PCR assays. In addition, samples from non-infected control animals were also employed to establish differences in the steady state gene expression between intestinal sections. The panel of quantified molecules included an assortment of cytokines, chemokines, pattern-recognition receptors, intracellular signaling molecules, transcription factors and antimicrobial molecules. Changes in gene expression occurred in the three different parts of the intestine and during the course of the S. typhimurium infection. Moreover, the high variation observed in expression patterns of genes coding for inflammatory mediators could indicate that each intestinal section responds differently to the infection. Thus, on the contrary to findings in the jejunum and colon, a down-regulation and lack of induction of some proinflammatory cytokine transcripts was observed in the ileum. Nevertheless, all chemoattractant cytokines assayed were up-regulated in the ileum and jejunum whereas only interleukin-8 and MIP-1α mRNA were over expressed in the colon. In conclusion, our results reveal regional differences in gene expression profiles along the porcine intestinal gut as well as regional differences in the inflammatory response to S. typhimurium infection. Taken together, these data should provide a basis for a complete understanding of the porcine intestinal response to bacterial infection