RESISTANCE GENES IN MRSP ISOLATED FROM PETS WITH SOFT TISSUE INFECTIONS

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (SP) belongs to the saprophytic bacterial flora of animals, but it is also associated with skin and mucosal infections. The increasing levels of methicillin resistant SP (MRSP) isolated in animals has become a concern in terms of public health, especially for multi-resistant clones, as both resistant strains and resistance genes may be transferred from animals to humans. In fact, MRSP are usually multi-resistant. In this scenario, we investigated MRSP isolates from pets to identify resistance genes, other than the beta-lactamase resistance genes, using the microarray. Moreover, a survey was performed in order to collect anamnestic data. 58/81 SP isolated from pet suffering from soft tissue infections were mecA positive and its presence was statistically related to the administration of antibiotics in the animals in the previous 24 months (Chi Square Test, p=0.002). In addition to mecA, these strains harbour genes encoding for kanamycin (aaacA-aphD; 51/58), tetracycline (tetk, tetM; 29/58). erythromycin (ermB: 55/58). These resistance genes are located on mobile portion of the genome (transposon or plasmid) meaning that they could be easily transferred among bacterial species of animals and humans. In conclusion, most of our MRSP are potentially resistant to aminoglycosides, tetracycline and macrolides, so they are difficult to treat. The knowledge of the resistance pattern would be useful in the clinical and in the epidemiological setting in order to reduce the number of treatment attempts and to monitor the antimicrobial resistance. The Italian Ministry of Health [IZSVE 16/18 RC] supported this work

IL-8 and CXCR1 expression is associated with cancer stem cell-like properties of clear cell renal cancer

Recent studies suggest that clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) possesses a rare population of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that might contribute to tumor heterogeneity, metastasis and therapeutic resistance. Nevertheless, their relevance for renal cancer is still unclear. In this study, we successfully isolated CSCs from established human ccRCC cell lines. CSCs displayed high expression of the chemokine IL-8 and its receptor CXCR1. While recombinant IL-8 significantly increased CSC number and properties in vitro, CXCR1 inhibition using an anti-CXCR1 antibody or repertaxin significantly reduced these features. After injection into immune-deficient mice, CSCs formed primary tumors that metastasized to the lung and liver. All xenografted tumors in mice expressed high levels of IL-8 and CXCR1. Furthermore, IL-8/CXCR1 expression significantly correlated with decreased overall survival in ccRCC patients. These results suggest that the IL-8/CXCR1 phenotype is associated with CSC-like properties in renal cancer. © 2019 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland