Primer reporte de cepas de Enterobacter spp productoras de metalobetalactamasas de Venezuela

Clinical strains of Enterobacter were isolated from Cumana's Central Hospital in Venezuela, and classified as E. cloacae (21), E. aerogenes (7), E. intermedium (1), E. sakazakii (1) and three unclassified. The strains showed high levels of resistance, especially to SXT (58.1%), CRO (48.8%), CAZ (46.6%), PIP (46.4%), CIP (45.2%) and ATM (43.3%). This is the first report for South America of blaVIM-2 in two E. cloacae and one Enterobacter sp., which also showed multiple mechanisms of resistance. Both E. cloacae showed blaTEM-1, but only one showed blaCTX-M-15 gene, while no blaSHV was detected.Cepas clínicas de Enterobacter fueron aisladas del Hospital central de Cumaná en Venezuela, y se clasificaron como E. cloacae (21), E. aerogenes (7), E. intermedium (1), E. sakazakii (1) y 3 sin clasificar. Las cepas mostraron altos niveles de resistencia, especialmente a SXT (58.1%), CRO (48.8%), CAZ (46.6%), PIP (46.4%), CIP (45.2%) and ATM (43.3%). Este es el primer reporte de América del Sur de blaVIM-2 en dos cepas de E. cloacae y una de Enterobacter sp., las cuales también mostraron múltiples mecanismos de resistencia. Ambas especies de E. cloacae mostraron genes blaTEM-1, pero solo una mostro el gen blaCTX-M-15, mientras que blaSHV no fue detectado

Sequence variation of necdin gene in Bovidae

Abstract Background Necdin (NDN), a member of the melanoma antigen family showing imprinted pattern of expression, has been implicated as causing Prader-Willi symptoms, and known to participate in cellular growth, cellular migration and differentiation. The region where NDN is located has been associated to QTLs affecting reproduction and early growth in cattle, but location and functional analysis of the molecular mechanisms have not been established. Methods Here we report the sequence variation of the entire coding sequence from 72 samples of cattle, yak, buffalo, goat and sheep, and discuss its variation in Bovidae. Median-joining network analysis was used to analyze the variation found in the species. Synonymous and non-synonymous substitution rates were determined for the analysis of all the polymorphic sites. Phylogenetic analysis were carried out among the species of Bovidae to reconstruct their relationships. Results From the phylogenetic analysis with the consensus sequences of the studied Bovidae species, we found that only 11 of the 26 nucleotide changes that differentiate them produced amino acid changes. All the SNPs found in the cattle breeds were novel and showed similar percentages of nucleotides with non-synonymous substitutions at the N-terminal, MHD and C-terminal (12.3, 12.8 and 12.5%, respectively), and were much higher than the percentage of synonymous substitutions (2.5, 2.6 and 4.9%, respectively). Three mutations in cattle and one in sheep, detected in heterozygous individuals were predicted to be deleterious. Additionally, the analysis of the biochemical characteristics in the most common form of the proteins in each species show very little difference in molecular weight, pI, net charge, instability index, aliphatic index and GRAVY (Table 4) in the Bovidae species, except for sheep, which had a higher molecular weight, instability index and GRAVY. Conclusions There is sufficient variation in this gene within and among the studied species, and because NDN carry key functions in the organism, it can have effects in economically important traits in the production of these species. NDN sequence is phylogenetically informative in this group, thus we propose this gene as a phylogenetic marker to study the evolution and conservation in Bovidae

FIRST REPORT OF METALLO-β-LACTAMASES PRODUCING Enterobacter spp. STRAINS FROM VENEZUELA

Clinical strains of Enterobacter were isolated from Cumana's Central Hospital in Venezuela, and classified as E. cloacae (21), E. aerogenes (7), E. intermedium (1), E. sakazakii (1) and three unclassified. The strains showed high levels of resistance, especially to SXT (58.1%), CRO (48.8%), CAZ (46.6%), PIP (46.4%), CIP (45.2%) and ATM (43.3%). This is the first report for South America of blaVIM-2 in two E. cloacae and one Enterobacter sp., which also showed multiple mechanisms of resistance. Both E. cloacae showed blaTEM-1, but only one showed blaCTX-M-15 gene, while no blaSHV was detected

Malaria seroprevalence in blood bank donors from endemic and non-endemic areas of Venezuela

In Venezuela, a total of 363,466 malaria cases were reported between 1999-2009. Several states are experiencing malaria epidemics, increasing the risk of vector and possibly transfusion transmission. We investigated the risk of transfusion transmission in blood banks from endemic and non-endemic areas of Venezuela by examining blood donations for evidence of malaria infection. For this, commercial kits were used to detect both malaria-specific antibodies (all species) and malaria antigen (Plasmodium falciparum only) in samples from Venezuelan blood donors (n = 762). All samples were further studied by microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The antibody results showed that P. falciparum-infected patients had a lower sample/cut-off ratio than Plasmodium vivax-infected patients. Conversely, a higher ratio for antigen was observed among all P. falciparum-infected individuals. Sensitivity and specificity were higher for malarial antigens (100 and 99.8%) than for antibodies (82.2 and 97.4%). Antibody-positive donors were observed in Caracas, Ciudad Bolívar, Puerto Ayacucho and Cumaná, with prevalences of 1.02, 1.60, 3.23 and 3.63%, respectively. No PCR-positive samples were observed among the donors. However, our results show significant levels of seropositivity in blood donors, suggesting that more effective measures are required to ensure that transfusion transmission does not occur

AMINOGLYCOSIDE RESISTANCE GENES IN Pseudomonas aeruginosa ISOLATES FROM CUMANA, VENEZUELA

The enzymatic modification of aminoglycosides by aminoglycoside-acetyltransferases (AAC), aminoglycoside-adenyltransferases (AAD), and aminoglycoside-phosphotransferases (APH), is the most common resistance mechanism in P. aeruginosa and these enzymes can be coded on mobile genetic elements that contribute to their dispersion. One hundred and thirty seven P. aeruginosa isolates from the University Hospital, Cumana, Venezuela (HUAPA) were evaluated. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disk diffusion method and theaac, aadB and aph genes were detected by PCR. Most of the P. aeruginosa isolates (33/137) were identified from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), mainly from discharges (96/137). The frequency of resistant P. aeruginosaisolates was found to be higher for the aminoglycosides tobramycin and amikacin (30.7 and 29.9%, respectively). Phenotype VI, resistant to these antibiotics, was the most frequent (14/49), followed by phenotype I, resistant to all the aminoglycosides tested (12/49). The aac(6´)-Ib,aphA1 and aadB genes were the most frequently detected, and the simultaneous presence of several resistance genes in the same isolate was demonstrated. Aminoglycoside resistance in isolates ofP. aeruginosa at the HUAPA is partly due to the presence of the aac(6´)-Ib, aphA1 andaadB genes, but the high rates of antimicrobial resistance suggest the existence of several mechanisms acting together. This is the first report of aminoglycoside resistance genes in Venezuela and one of the few in Latin America