Prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in pregnant women

SummaryBackgroundMycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum are important opportunistic pathogens implicated in urogenital infections and complicated pregnancy. We aimed to study the role of these pathogens in symptomatic and asymptomatic pregnant women and determine their clinical significance and antibiotic susceptibility.MethodsOne hundred pregnant women were included in the study, 50 symptomatic patients and 50 asymptomatic controls. Duplicate endocervical samples were taken from each individual and analyzed using the Mycoplasma IST-2 kit and A7 agar medium. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested against doxycycline, josamycin, ofloxacin, erythromycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, clarithromycin, and pristinamycin using the Mycoplasma IST-2 kit.ResultsTwelve symptomatic pregnant women had spontaneous abortions. Of these, eight (66.7%) cases had been colonized with M. hominis and/or U. urealyticum. Of the pregnant women infected with M. hominis and/or U. urealyticum, 40.7% delivered a low birth weight infant. M. hominis was successfully cultured in five women (5%) and U. urealyticum in 27 (27%). Among positive cultures, 15.6% and 84.4% of isolates were M. hominis and U. urealyticum, respectively. M. hominis and U. urealyticum were uniformly susceptible to doxycycline, tetracycline, and pristinamycin, which may be successfully used in the empirical therapy of infected individuals.ConclusionsIt can be concluded that genital colonization with M. hominis and U. urealyticum may predispose to spontaneous abortion and low birth weight

Atorvastatin exerts anti-nociceptive activity and decreases serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in a rat endometriosis model

Parlakpinar, Hakan/0000-0001-9497-3468WOS: 000343651400028PubMed: 24913463Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of atorvastatin in the treatment of experimental endometriosis. Methods Endometriosis was induced in 24 female rats. 4 weeks after the procedure dimensions of the foci were recorded. Rats were divided into three groups: in Group 1 (n = 8), a daily dose of 10 mg/kg atorvastatin was given for 14 days. In the second group (n = 8), a single dose of 1 mg/kg leuprolide acetate was injected intraperitoneally. The rats in Group 3 (n = 8) were received 1 mg/kg i.p. 0.9 % NaCl. At the end of the treatment, laparotomy was performed, and the dimensions of the endometriotic foci were recorded. Biochemical, histopathological and immunohistochemical studies were performed and nociception was compared in groups. Results Atorvastatin treatment exhibited significant analgesic activity in hot plate model (P = 0.022). The serum hs-CRP and tumor necrosis TNF-alpha levels were similar between the Group 2 and Group 3 (P > 0.05); however atorvastatin caused significant decrease in both serum markers. The histological and immunohistochemical scores were also found to be markedly lower in Group 1 and Group 2 (P < 0.05). Conclusion Atorvastatin treatment may have a therapeutic potential in the treatment of endometriosis through its anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive properties

Serum and Amniotic Fluid Eosinophil Cationic Protein Levels in Misoprostol Induced Pregnancies

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in maternal serum (MS) and amniotic fluid (AF) at term and assess misoprostol induced changes in their mean concentrations. Methods: A total of 53 pregnant women were included in the study: 24 were in active labor, and a further 29 were not in labor and misoprostol induction was performed. The initial 3 mL of amniotic fluid was collected and processed. In all pregnant subjects, maternal blood samples were obtained from the cubital vein at the time of amniotic fluid sampling. The concentration of ECP in serum and AF was measured by chemiluminescence method with the immulite 2000 analyzer (Immulite2000® ECP, DPC Diagnostic Products Corporation 5700 West 96th Street Los Angeles, CA, USA). Results: Misoprostol induced pregnant showed significantly higher concentrations ECP than the control pregnant women in serum. AF-ECP concentrations were not significantly different between two groups. There was no significant difference between MS and AF-ECP concentrations in control subjects. Conclusion: The association we encountered between labor induction with misoprostol and increased systemic production of ECP should be investigated further. [Med-Science 2013; 2(1.000): 436-44

False-positive reaction between syphilis and hepatitis C infection

There are limited data about false-positive reactions against hepatitis C virus (HCV) in syphilitic patients and false-positive reactions against syphilis in the patients with HCV infection, The aim of this study was to demonstrate the false-positivity of syphilis in patients with HCV infection, the false-positivity of anti-HCV in patients with syphilis and the validity of the serological tests in such patients. Fifty patients with positive anti-HCV, 21 patients with positive VDRL and 50 healthy subjects were studied. Syphilis serology was determined by the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test and microhemagglutination for T. pallidum (MHA-TP) test. Hepatitis C serology was determined by a second generation ELISA (Ortho Diagnostics) test for HCV antibody, and anti-HCV positive patients were tested for HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All assays were performed on all subjects. Not only the false-positive VDRL reaction in the patients with HCV infection but also false-positive anti-HCV tests in syphilitic patients have been observed. Four patients with syphilis had positive anti-HCV and negative HCV-RNA, whereas 10% (5 of 50) of patients with hepatitis C infection had positive VDRL and these patients were negative for MHA-TP test, The rates of false-positivity of VDRL and anti-HCV were higher than within the control group (p<0.05). According to these data, positive anti-HCV in syphilitic patients and positive VDRL in chronic hepatitis C may be false-positive results with regard to the reaginic tests, Therefore, therapeutic measures should not be initiated without confirmation with a treponemal test or PCR. VDRL and HCV-ELISA tests may be interacted with IgM or IgG antibodies. This relationship should be investigated in further studies