Antimicrobial activity of galls of Quercus infectoria

Objectives: Gall oak (Quercus infectoria) is a species of tree belonging to fagaceae family and its galls has been used in the treatment of burn wounds traditionally. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the antimicrobial activity of the extract of oak galls on some microorganisms.Materials and methods: With using microdilution method, a solution which was obtained by boiling the galls was studied on 20 staphylococci, 20 Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 20 Candida albicans isolates which were obtained from various clinical samples and the values of minimum inhibitor concentration (MIC) were detected.Results: At the end of incubation MIC50 and MIC90 values were determined as 0,5 and 1 μg/ml for staphylococci, 1 and 2 μg/ml for Pseudomonas, 2 and 2 μg/ml for Candida, respectively.Conclusion: As a result, we concluded that galls of Q.infectoria has antimicrobial effect on common factors of burn wound infections. Larger studies about the antimicrobial and antiinflamatorial activity and in vivo effect of topical treatment of Q.infectoria will obtain more accurate data about using this plant in the treatment of burn wounds

Determination of Susceptibility to Tigecycline in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates

Amaç Metisiline dirençli Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), burun ve deride kolonize olabilen, selülit, impetigo ve abseye yol açabilen, toplum ve hastane kaynaklı ciddi enfeksiyonlara neden olabilen önemli bir patojendir. Direnç sorunu nedeniyle MRSA enfeksiyonlarında tedavide güçlüklerle karşılaşılmaktadır. Araştırmacılar tedavi seçeneklerinin sınırlı kalmasından dolayı alternatif arayışlarına devam etmektedir. Bir glisilsiklin türevi olan tigesiklin (GAR-936) son yıllarda kullanıma giren bir ajandır. Bu çalışmada Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi mikrobiyoloji laboratuvarında çeşitli klinik örneklerden elde edilen MRSA izolatlarında tigesikline duyarlılık oranının in vitro olarak araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Materyal ve Metod Toplam 100 MRSA izolatına için tigesiklin minimum inhibitör konsantrasyon (MİK) değerleri sıvı mikrodilüsyon yöntemiyle belirlenmiştir. Bulgular Tigesiklinin izolatlara karşı MİK değerleri 0,0625-4 µg/ml aralığında bulunmuş, buna göre izolatların 91’i (%91) tigesikline duyarlı, dokuzu (%9) ise dirençli bulunmuştur. MİK50 değeri 0,25 µg/ml, MİK90 değeri ise 0,5 µg/ml olarak saptanmıştır. Sonuç Ülkemizde yapılmış diğer çalışmalardakinden daha yüksek bir direnç oranı bulunmuş olmasına rağmen, çalışmamızda elde edilen bulgular, hastanemizde MRSA nedenli enfeksiyonların tedavisinde tigesiklinin halen uygun bir alternatif olduğunu göstermektedir.Aim Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an emergent pathogen which can colonize in nose and on the skin; lead sellulitis, impetigo and abscess and which can cause community and hospital-acquired serious infections. Treatment of MRSA infection encounters difficulties due to the resistance. Researchers continue to search for an alternative due to the limited treatment options. Tigecycline (GAR-936), a derivative of glycylcycline, is an agent accepted for the usage for treatment in recent years. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the in vitro susceptibility rate of MRSA strains isolated from various clinical specimens in microbiology laboratory of Abant Izzet Baysal University Faculty of Medicine. Material and Methods Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of tigecycline were detemined with broth microdilution method for a total of 100 MRSA isolates. Results MIC values of tigecycline to the isolates were found between a range of 0.0625-4 µg/ml; according to this, 91 (91%) of the isolates were determined as susceptible and 3 (3%) were found as intermediate to tigecycline. The MIC50 value was found 0.25 µg/ml and MIC90 was 0.5 µg/ml. Conclusion Despite the higher resistance rate to tigecycline in comparison to data obtained from other studies of our country, the findings of our study shows that tigecycline is still an appropriate alternative in treatment of infections caused by MRSA in our hospital

Prevalence of anti-HDV and HDAg in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Objective: In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the correlationof the test results of anti-HDV and HDAg in patientswith chronic HBV infection and to collect data concerningHDV epidemiology.Materials and methods: Anti-HDV and HDAg test resultsand demographic data of the patients with chronic HBVinfection by gastroenterology and infectious diseasesin Agri State Hospital between January 2009-May 2012were analyzed retrospectively. HBsAg and Anti-HBc IgMtests were performed with macroelisa, anti-HDV andHDAg were tested with microelisa.Results: A total of 787 patients constituting 315(40.0%)females and 472(60.0%) males were included in thestudy. All the patients were HBsAg positive and Anti-HBcIgM negative. Of these patients, 55(7.0%) cases wereonly anti-HDV positive; 19(2.4%) were only HDAg positiveand two cases were both anti-HDV and HDAg positive.A total of 76(9.7%) patients had positive findings ofHDV infection. The mean age of HDV-positive patientswas 42.1±15.2 (11-77 years); of these 36(47.4) were femaleand 40(52.6) were male.Conclusion: In patients with chronic viral hepatitis, HDVinfection still remains significant. In our study HDV infectionrate was detected as 9.7%. Although this rate is lowerthan the earlier reports of the same region, it is above thenational average.Key words: HDV, HDAg, delta antigen, anti-HDV, chronic hepatitis B, pai

Susceptibility profile in staphylococcus hominis isolates

Giriş: Staphylococcus hominis, insan derisinde normal flora elemanı olarak bulunan fakat fırsatçı infeksiyonlarda izole edilen bir koagülaz-negatif stafilokok türüdür. Materyal ve Metod: Çalışmamızda 2007-2008 yıllarında bir üniversite hastanesi klinik mikrobiyoloji laboratuvarına gönderilen hasta örneklerinden izole edilen S. hominis suşlarının duyarlılık durumlarının geriye dönük olarak irdelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Toplam 49 izolat değerlendirmeye alınmıştır. İzolatların tür düzeyinde identifikasyonu ve antibiyotik duyarlılık sonuçları MicroScan WalkAway (Dade Behring, ABD) sistemiyle yapılmıştır. Bulgular: En çok izolat kan kültürlerinden (%61.2) soyutlanmıştır. Suşların 16 (%32.7)'sı metisiline dirençli, 33 (%67.3)'ü metisiline duyarlı olarak belirlenmiştir. Linezolid ve glikopeptidlere karşı dirençli suş saptanmamış, tetrasiklin, trimetoprim-sülfametoksazol ve eritromisine karşı düşük duyarlılık oranları bulunmuştur. En düşük duyarlılığın penisiline karşı olduğu gözlenmiştir (%8.2). Sonuç: Ulaşabildiğimiz kadarıyla ülkemizde izole olarak S. hominis suşlarının duyarlılığı ile ilgili bir yayın bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışma ülkemizde söz konusu türle ilgili ilk duyarlılık raporudur.Introduction: Staphylococcus hominis is a coagulase-negative staphylococcus, which is a component of normal skin flora but isolated in opportunistic infections. Materials and Methods: In our study, it was aimed to evaluate retrospectively the susceptibility patterns of S. hominis strains isolated from clinical specimens, which were sent to the clinical microbiology laboratory of a university hospital in the period 2007-2008. A total of 49 isolates were included in the evaluation. The identification at the species level and the results of antibiotic susceptibility testing were achieved via the MicroScan WalkAway system (Dade Behring, USA). Results: The highest number of strains were isolated from blood cultures (61.2%). Among the strains, 16 (32.7%) were determined as methicillin-resistant and 33 (67.3%) as methicillin-susceptible. No strains resistant to glycopeptides and linezolid were detected, and low susceptibility rates to tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and erythromycin were found. The lowest susceptibility rate observed was to penicillin (8.2%). Conclusion: To our knowledge, there has been no publication just about the susceptibility of S. hominis strains in our country. This study is the first report about the species mentioned above

A case report with catheter caused Bacillus cereus bacteriemia and investigating the clonal relatedness between the isolates by PFGE

Bacillus cereus is a motile and spore-forming Gram positive rod and is a microorganism species which cause infections such as food poisoning, endocarditis, bacteremia sepsis.In our case; 57 years old, acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed female patient who had bone narrow transplantation and getting chemotherapy was interned with prediagnosis of neutropenic fever and pneumonia in internal medicine clinics which she admitted with high fever. Since B.cereus growth in peripheral vein blood cultures, catheter blood cultures was performed simultaneously. B.cereus growth repeated in the cultures so catheter caused bacteremia was considered as the diagnosis and antibiotherapy was expanded. After treatment, no growth was observed except catheter blood cultures, general condition of the patient improved and her fever disappeared.Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was performed in order to investigate the clonal relatedness between B.cereus isolates which were grown in three cultures of separate times and isolates were observed as the same clone.Blood cultures yielded B.cereus are usually considered the possibility of contamination so some clinical laboratories do not perform identification at species level. But the species which is isolated may be the cause of infection, so this approach may be time-consuming for the patient and cause a delay in necessary treatment. In such cases; repeat blood culture should be requested and a decision should be done whether to perform species identification according to the patient’s immune system condition and clinical presentation

A case report with catheter caused Bacillus cereus bacteremia and investigating the clonal relatedness between the isolates by PFGE

Bacillus cereus, hareketli, endospor oluşturabilen Gram pozitif fakültatif aerop basil olup, besin zehirlenmesi, endokardit, bakteriyemi ve sepsis gibi enfeksiyonlara neden olmaktadır. Olgumuzda, 57 yaşında akut myeloid lösemi tanılı, kemik iliği nakli olmuş, kemoterapi almakta olan bayan hasta yüksek ateş şikayetiyle başvurduğu dahiliye kliniğinde nötropenik ateş ve pnömoni öntanılarıyla yatırıldı. Periferik kan kültürlerinde Bacillus cereus üremesi üzerine kateterle eş zamanlı kan kültürleri yapıldı. Kültürlerde B.cereus üremesi tekrar eden hastada kateter kaynaklı bakteriyemi tanısı konularak antibiyotik tedavisi genişletildi. Tedavi sonrasında kateter kan kültürleri dışında üremesi görülmeyen hastanın genel durumunun düzeldiği ve ateşinin düştüğü gözlendi. Üç ayrı zamanda alınan kültürlerde üreyen B.cereus izolatları arasında klonal ilişkinin araştırılması amacıyla Pulsed- field jel elektroforezi yapıldı ve izolatların aynı klon olduğu görüldü. Kan kültürlerinde Bacillus türlerinin üremesi genellikle kontaminasyon olasılığını düşündürmekte olduğundan bazı klinik laboratuvarlar tür düzeyinde identifikasyon yapmamaktadır. Fakat izole edilen tür enfeksiyon etkeni olabileceğinden, bu yaklaşım hasta için zaman kaybına ve gerekli tedavinin gecikmesine neden olabilir. Bu durumlarda kan kültürü tekrarının istenmesi, hastanın immün sistem durumu ve klinik tablosu göz önünde bulundurularak tür tayininin yapılıp yapılmamasına karar vermek gerekmektedir.Bacillus cereus is a motile and spore-forming Gram positive rod and is a microorganism species which cause infections such as food poisoning, endocarditis, bacteremia sepsis. In our case; 57 years old, acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed female patient who had bone narrow transplantation and getting chemotherapy was interned with prediagnosis of neutropenic fever and pneumonia in internal medicine clinics which she admitted with high fever. Since B.cereus growth in peripheral vein blood cultures, catheter blood cultures was performed simultaneously. B.cereus growth repeated in the cultures so catheter caused bacteremia was considered as the diagnosis and antibiotherapy was expanded. After treatment, no growth was observed except catheter blood cultures, general condition of the patient improved and her fever disappeared. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was performed in order to investigate the clonal relatedness between B.cereus isolates which were grown in three cultures of separate times and isolates were observed as the same clone. Blood cultures yielded B.cereus are usually considered the possibility of contamination so some clinical laboratories do not perform identification at species level. But the species which is isolated may be the cause of infection, so this approach may be time-consuming for the patient and cause a delay in necessary treatment. In such cases; repeat blood culture should be requested and a decision should be done whether to perform species identification according to the patient’s immune system condition and clinical presentation

Evaluation of reduced susceptibility to vancomycin among MRSA strains isolated from clinical specimens

In this study, a total of 390 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from clinical specimens between April 2004 and June 2008, in a university hospital in Zonguldak (located at Black Sea region), Turkey, were evaluated retrospectively for reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. Brain heart infusion (BHI) plates containing 4 and 6 µg/ml of vancomycin were used to screen for vancomycin intermediate S.aureus (VISA) strains. Additionally, vancomycin minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the isolates were determined by agar dilution method. No growth was observed on the screen plates after 24 and 48 hours of incubation. None of the isolates revealed MIC values equal to or higher than 2 µg/ml; MIC90 and MIC50 values were 1 µg/ml. Although VISA isolates were not detected in this study, no data was obtained for heterogeneous VISA isolates since macro-E test or population analysis were not performed. It was concluded that systematic surveillance of MRSA isolates is of particular importance to investigate the presence of VISA/hVISA isolates which may lead to treatment failures and hospital epidemics.In this study, a total of 390 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from clinical specimens between April 2004 and June 2008, in a university hospital in Zonguldak (located at Black Sea region), Turkey, were evaluated retrospectively for reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. Brain heart infusion (BHI) plates containing 4 and 6 µg/ml of vancomycin were used to screen for vancomycin intermediate S.aureus (VISA) strains. Additionally, vancomycin minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the isolates were determined by agar dilution method. No growth was observed on the screen plates after 24 and 48 hours of incubation. None of the isolates revealed MIC values equal to or higher than 2 µg/ml; MIC90 and MIC50 values were 1 µg/ml. Although VISA isolates were not detected in this study, no data was obtained for heterogeneous VISA isolates since macro-E test or population analysis were not performed. It was concluded that systematic surveillance of MRSA isolates is of particular importance to investigate the presence of VISA/hVISA isolates which may lead to treatment failures and hospital epidemics

Detection of entamoeba histolytica in stool specimens with the ELISA method

Bu çalışmada Kasım 2006 ile Eylül 2007 tarihleri arasında direkt mikroskopi ile incelenen 1720 dışkı örneğinin 44’ünde (%0,37) amip kistleri görülmüş olup, kist görülen örneklerde ELISA ile Entamoeba histolytica spesifik antijen araştırılmıştır. Örneklerin 26’sında (%59,1) spesifik antijen varlığı saptanmıştır. ELISA test sonucu pozitif çıkan hastaların amebiyaz tanısı kesinleşmiş ve ivedilikle uygun tedavi almaları sağlanmış olup, testi negatif sonuçlanan hastaların ise bu öntanıları ekarte edilmiştir. Amebiyaz şüphesi olan hastalarda tanıyı doğrulamak için, direkt mikroskopi duyarlılığının düşük olmasından dolayı, ELISA metodunun uygulanması hastaya verilecek tedavinin belirlenmesi veya hastanın gereksiz tedavi almasının önlenmesi açısından uygundur.In this study, carried out between November 2006 and September 2007, amebic cysts were observed in 44 (0.37%) out of a total of 1720 stool specimens which were examined by direct microscopy. Entamoeba histolytica specific antigen was investigated with ELISA in the specimens in which cysts were observed. Specific antigen was detected in 26 (59.1%) of these specimens. The diagnosis of amoebiasis for the patients whose ELISA tests were positive was confirmed and the appropriate therapy was immediately begun. This prediagnosis was abandoned for patients whose test results were “negative”. Because of the low sensitivity of direct microscopy in confirming the prediagnosis of amoebiasis, it is necessary to perform ELISA on the specimens in order to determine whether the patient should be treated or to prevent patients from being given an unnecessary treatment

Kronik hepatit B enfeksiyonlu hastalarda Anti-HDV ve HDAg prevalansı

Amaç: Bu çalışmada, Ağrı ilinde kronik hepatit B enfeksiyonu tanısıyla takip edilen hastaların anti-HDV ve HDAg test sonuçlarının korelasyonunun irdelenmesi ve HDV epidemiyolojisine ait veri toplaması amaçlandı. Gereç ve yöntem: Ağrı Devlet Hastanesi Ocak 2009-Mayıs 2012 tarihleri arasında gastroenteroloji ve enfeksiyon hastalıkları tarafından kronik hepatit B tanısıyla takip edilen hastaların anti-HDV, HDAg sonuçları ve demografik verileri retrospektif olarak incelendi. HBs Ag, Anti-HBc IgM tetkikleri makroeliza, anti-HDV ve HDAg tetkikleri ise mikroeliza yöntemiyle çalışıldı. Bulgular: Çalışmaya 315’i (%40,0) kadın, 472’si (%60,0) erkek olmak üzere toplam 787 hasta dahil edildi. Hastaların tamamında HBs Ag pozitif ve anti HBc IgM negatif olarak saptandı. Bu hastalardan 55’inde (%7,0) sadece Anti-HDV, 19(%2,4)’unda sadece HDAg pozitif olarak saptandı. İki (%0,3) olguda ise Anti-HDV ve HDAg birlikte saptandı. Toplam 76(%9,7) hastada HDV lehine pozitif bulgu saptandı. HDV pozitif hastaların yaş ortalaması 42,1±15,2 (11-77 yaş) olarak tespit edildi. Bunların 36’sı %47,4) kadın, 40’ı (%52,6) erkekti.Sonuç: Kronik viral hepatit hastalarında HDV enfeksiyonu hala önemini korumaktadır. Çalışmamızda HDV en- feksiyon oranı %9,7 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Bu oran, aynı bölgeden daha önce bildirilen çalışmalardan daha düşük olmasına rağmen ülke ortalamasının üzerindedir

Comparıson of toxın genes ın staphylococcus aureus ısolates obtaıned from patıents and carrıers

WOS: 000330151200009It is important to have information about virulence characteristics of S. aureus isolates obtained from the nasal cultures of carriers in terms of the capability to cause severe infections. in the present study, S. aureus isolates obtained from carriers and isolates obtained from clinical specimens, and which were determined as causative agents of infection, were compared in terms of the genes of staphylococcal enterotoxiiz A and 8 (sea and seb), TSST-I (tst), and PVL (pv1). A total of 44 S. aureus strains isolated from clinical specimens and 44 carrier isolates were tested for the genes with polyinerase chain reaction method. As the results, the most common gene was sea with a rate of 45.5% (40188). This gene was found in 34.1% (15144) of the carrier isolates and in 56.8% (25144) of the clinical group. Furthermore, the presence of the sea gene was found to be significantly higher in the clinical isolates than in the carriers' (P=0.032). the tst, seb, and pvl genes were positive at rates of 18.2% (16188). 4.5% (4188), and 5.7% (5188), respectively. No significant differences were found between the groups according to positivity rates of the tst, seb, and pvl genes (p>0.05 for each gene) To our knowledge, differences between carrier isolates and clinical isolates in terms of toxin genes have not been investigated before the present study. the presence of sea at a significantly higher rate in clinical isolates shows the need for advanced molecular analysis on this topic.Abant Izzet Baysal Scientific Research ProjectsAbant Izzet Baysal University [2013.08.01.610]This study was supported by Abant Izzet Baysal Scientific Research Projects (Project No: 2013.08.01.610)