Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived from Klebsiella pneumoniae Influence the miRNA Expression Profile in Human Bronchial Epithelial BEAS-2B Cells

: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that causes nosocomial and community-acquired infections. The spread of resistant strains of K. pneumoniae represents a growing threat to human health, due to the exhaustion of effective treatments. K. pneumoniae releases outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). OMVs are a vehicle for the transport of virulence factors to host cells, causing cell injury. Previous studies have shown changes of gene expression in human bronchial epithelial cells after treatment with K. pneumoniae OMVs. These variations in gene expression could be regulated through microRNAs (miRNAs), which participate in several biological mechanisms. Thereafter, miRNA expression profiles in human bronchial epithelial cells were evaluated during infection with standard and clinical K. pneumoniae strains. Microarray analysis and RT-qPCR identified the dysregulation of miR-223, hsa-miR-21, hsa-miR-25 and hsa-let-7g miRNA sequences. Target gene prediction revealed the essential role of these miRNAs in the regulation of host immune responses involving NF-ĸB (miR-223), TLR4 (hsa-miR-21), cytokine (hsa-miR-25) and IL-6 (hsa-let-7g miRNA) signalling pathways. The current study provides the first large scale expression profile of miRNAs from lung cells and predicted gene targets, following exposure to K. pneumoniae OMVs. Our results suggest the importance of OMVs in the inflammatory response

A new enrichment diagnostic platform for semen culture

Urogenital bacterial infections have been described in literature as a potential cause of infertility. For the consequences that a failure in diagnosis could have on the evolution of male urogenital infectious disease, an accurate microbiological procedure to investigate the bacterial species composition of seminal fluid plays a crucial role to better understand the eventual correlation with infertility. In order to improve the quality of semen culture investigations, we have developed a new enrichment diagnostic platform. Semen samples of 540 infertile men were simultaneously analyzed using the standard microbiological semen culture method and an alternative new experimental technique (Brain Heart Infusion broth, BHI, enrichment). Our results established the possibility to apply BHI enrichment to detect bacteria from semen samples with higher sensitivity (100%) and negative predictive value (100%) than the standard technique

Distribution of Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes and Subtypes in the Metropolitan Area of Naples, Italy, in the Era of Interferon-Free Regimens.

The objective of this work was to study the distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and subtypes from 2010 to 2015 in 1,221 anti-HCV/HCV-RNA-positive specimens from patients living in the metropolitan area of Naples, since HCV genotypes and subtypes remain cornerstones in the management of chronic HCV infection even in the directly acting antivirals era

Antimicrobial approach of abdominal post-surgical infections

: Abdominal surgical site infections (SSIs) are infections that occur after abdominal surgery. They can be superficial, involving the skin tissue only, or more profound, involving deeper skin tissues including organs and implanted materials. Currently, SSIs are large global health problem with an incidence that varies significantly depending on the United Nations' Human Development Index. The purpose of this review is to provide a practical update on the latest available literature on SSIs, focusing on causative pathogens and treatment with an overview of the ongoing studies of new therapeutic strategies

Postmortem interval assessment by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis in murine cadavers

This study assessed the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry as an alternative method to identify species associated with the thanatomicrobiota and epinecrotic communities

Enrichment of semen culture in the diagnosis of bacterial prostatitis

The objective was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of our microbiological protocol to simplify the evaluation of bacterial prostatitis in the clinical practice. Our findings show the possibility to apply our alternative enrichment semen culture method to detect prostatic bacterial infection with higher sensitivity than the gold standard M&S technique

Campylobacter jejuni bacteremia in Italian pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Report of two cases

Infections caused by Campylobacter jejuni are rarely associated with extraintestinal complications. C. jejuni bacteremia is difficult to detect in patients with hematological malignancies undergoing chemotherapy where the choice of appropriate antibiotic treatment is extremely important. We report two cases of C. jejuni bacteremia in Italian pediatric patients affected by acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Agreeing with the most recent epidemiological data, both clinical isolates showed a typical phenotypic antimicrobial resistance patterns with combined resistance to ciprofloxacin and tetracycline. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. jejuni isolation from the blood of ALL pediatric patients in Italy, and it provides important epidemiological information on this rare infection