Sphingobacterium multivorum causing fatal meningoencephalitis: a rare case report

We report a case of fatal meningitis caused by bacteria, Sphingobacterium multivorum, probably first time being reported from India. S. mulivorum has been isolated from various clinical specimens but it is only rarely been associated with serious infections. Sphingobacterium species are generally resistant to aminoglycosides and polymyxin B. Susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics is variable, requiring testing for individual drug. This 36 year male had two weeks history of high-grade fever with altered sensorium and occasional seizures. Patient admitted with septicemia and subsequently developed meningitis and succumbed to his illness after being discharged against medical advice. His CSF culture yielded S. multivorum subsequently confirmed by mini API, bioMérieux Inc. Marcy-l’Etoile France. Due to its rare association with common clinical conditions, it requires a high degree of suspicion and expertise to prove its presence in clinical specimens. Since this bacterium is inherently resistant to many classes of antibiotics, a vigilant and efficient microbiological work up is needed to establish its diagnosis and prompt treatment

Prevalence of metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLS) producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in hospitalized patients in rural tertiary care hospital in Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading cause of nosocomial infections due to MBLs production with limited therapeutic options, higher rate of colonization is encountered in hospitalized patient streated with broad spectrum antibiotics. This study was conducted with an aim to know the prevalence of Carbapenem resistant MBLs producing strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in hospitalized patients.Methods: A total of 14700 samples were obtained from various wards during Jan 2016 to June 2017, were screened for P. aeruginosa by conventional culture and biochemical tests. All confirmed P. aeruginosa isolates were further subjected to Modified Kirby- Bauer disc diffusion test as per CLSI guidelines. All IPM resistant isolates were screened for MBL production by DDST, CDST, MHT and E-test MBL.Results: Atotal of 1423were identified as P. aeruginosa. The isolation rate of P. aeruginosa at our hospital was 9.7%. Among these, 130(9.1%) isolates were IPM resistant. A total of 111 (85.4%) were MBL positive by CDST and E-test, 92 (70.5%) by DDST and 80 (61.5%) by MHT. The prevalence of MBL producing P. aeruginosa was 111/1423(7.8%) while among IPM resistant P. aeruginosa, its prevalence was 111/130 (85.4%).Conclusions: The study documents presence of nosocomial MBL producing P. aeruginosa strains in our Institute. E-test and CDST were superior to DDST and MHT for detection of MBLs

Comparative evaluation of antigen detection ELISA and reverse transcriptase PCR in acute stage of Japanese encephalitis prevalent in endemic areas of North-Eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, India

Background: Objective of current study was to compare and evaluate different diagnostic tests to establish a reliable and less time consuming diagnostic test for prompt diagnosis of acute Japanese encephalitis cases mainly amongst children and young adults from North-Eastern part of Uttar Pradesh.  Methods: A total of 100 subjects, including 50 suspected cases and 50 diseased controls were investigated to establish the diagnosis of JE in acute encephalitis patients. All CSF samples were subjected to MAC-ELISA, virus cultivation and RT-PCR.Results: Out of 50 cases, 6 showed negative results by all the three tests. 50% (22 out of 44), 47.5% (21 out of 44), and 66% (23 out of 44) were found positive by MAC-ELISA, Virus cultivation and RT-PCR respectively. The rate of detection by Virus cultivation and RT-PCR was higher in case of MAC-ELISA negative cases (57.1% and 78.5%) than that of MAC-ELISA positive cases (22.7% and 27.2%) respectively. Mean age of the patients was 12.5 years, which ranged from 1-24 years with male to female ratio of 3:1.Conclusions: The RT-PCR was found most reliable, sensitive and specific method amongst the three chosen methods for detection of JEV in suspected encephalitis patients

Scenario of mycobacterial and fungal infection in HIV seropositive patients and their co-relation with CD4 count in Western Uttar Pradesh

Background: HIV infection is defined by sero-conversion and the detection of HIV-specific antibodies. Emergence and pandemic spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is due to the exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A decrease in CD4 count is at least partially responsible for the profound immunodeficiency that leads to various OIs in HIV- infected persons. When the CD4 count falls below 200cells/µL, there is irreversible breakdown of immune defence mechanism and patient become prey to a variety of human opportunistic pathogens.HIV positive patients must receive infections screening and access medical care before onset of advanced immunosuppression.Methods: In this study, total 230 HIV positive patients were selected during 18 months of study period. CD4 counts were estimated of all HIV positive cases. Positive HIV patients were investigated further to detect mycobacterial and fungal opportunistic infections. They were subjected to routine microscopy such as KOH mount, India ink, Gram’s staining for suspected fungal infection and ZN staining method for suspected mycobacterial infection. For fungal infection, samples were inoculated in two Sabouraud Dextrose Agar followed by different biochemical test and LPCB mount; for mycobacterial infection, samples were cultured on LJ medium followed by biochemical test.Results: In our study, maximum patients presented with complain of fever (90.43%), weight loss (73.91%) followed by loss of appetite (35.65%), breathlessness (33.91%), coughing (28.69%) and chest pain (22.17%). Overall prevalence of OIs (Mycobacterium and fungal) was 93 (40.43%) among 230 HIV positive patients. Among OIs 63(27.39%) patients were detected as having Mycobacterial infection and 41(17.82%) as had opportunistic fungal infections. Maximum OIs were related to patients with CD4 count 0-200 cells/µL followed by 201-400 Cells/µL. Most common OIs, among mycobacterial and opportunistic fungal infection were M. tuberculosis (50 isolates) and Candida spp. (26 isolates) respectively.Conclusions: This study provides important information about the risks of OIs at lower CD4 counts among HIV positive patients. These results highlight the need for early screening of HIV infected patients for opportunistic infections. There is also need to increase awareness in healthcare providers in order to improve decisions regarding prophylaxis for prevention of OIs and appropriate therapeutic intervention

A retrospective study of fungal corneal ulcer from the western part of Uttar Pradesh

Background: Infectious keratitis is a major cause of avoidable blindness worldwide. Fungus is an important aetiological agent of infectious keratitis following corneal trauma with vegetative matter. This infection should be promptly treated to limit the morbidity and dangerous sequelae. The purpose of this study was to detect causative agents from corneal scrapings and to identify the predisposing factors of mycotic keratitis.Methods: Corneal scrapings were taken in full aseptic precautions in total 112 suspected patients for fungal etiology and were subjected to direct examination by 10% KOH mount, gram stain and culture.Results: A total 112 cases of suspected corneal ulcers were subjected to KOH mount to detect fungal elements in corneal scraping and culture to isolate aetiological agents. In our study 29 (25.8%) samples were found positive in KOH mount and fungus was isolated from the all KOH positive samples. Males were more commonly affected and were mostly in the age group of 30-50 years. Fusarium species was the most common fungus isolated followed by Aspergillus species.Conclusion: Mycotic keratitis is a serious problem usually following corneal trauma, it requires rapid detection and identification of fugal agents for treatment to prevent disastrous consequences.

Evaluation of NS1, IgM ELISA and RT-PCR in diagnosis of dengue fever

Background: Dengue fever is a mosquito borne disease caused by flavivirus. Its cases are increasing in India with increasing mortality rate year by year hence, prompt and accurate diagnosis is necessary to prevent morbidity and mortality.Methods: In this study we enrolled 125 clinically suspected cases of dengue. All the collected samples were processed for RT-PCR, NS1 and IgM ELISA. We evaluated NS1 antigen ELISA alone, and combination of NS1 and IgM ELISA against RT-PCR.Results: Among 125 clinically suspected case 67 were positive by RT-PCR and 58 were negative. Sensitivity and Specificity of NS1 ELISA and NS1 with IgM ELISA (in combination) against RT-PCR were 83.58%, 94.82% and 95.55%, 79.31% respectively. (p<0.001).Conclusions: The NS1 ELISA alone was sufficient to detect acute phase of dengue fever, although, combination of NS1 and IgM proved to be most appropriate method for detection of acute as well as late phase of dengue fever

Hydrogen Sulfide and Silicon Together Alleviate Chromium (VI) Toxicity by Modulating Morpho-Physiological and Key Antioxidant Defense Systems in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Varieties

Extensive use of chromium (Cr) in anthropogenic activities leads to Cr toxicity in plants causing serious threat to the environment. Cr toxicity impairs plant growth, development, and metabolism. In the present study, we explored the effect of NaHS [a hydrogen sulfide; (H2S), donor] and silicon (Si), alone or in combination, on two chickpea (Cicer arietinum) varieties (Pusa 2085 and Pusa Green 112), in pot conditions under Cr stress. Cr stress increased accumulation of Cr reduction of the plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase activity and decreased in photosynthetic pigments, essential minerals, relative water contents (RWC), and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in both the varieties. Exogenous application of NaHS and Si on plants exposed to Cr stress mitigated the effect of Cr and enhanced the physiological and biochemical parameters by reducing Cr accumulation and oxidative stress in roots and leaves. The interactive effects of NaHS and Si showed a highly significant and positive correlation with PM H+-ATPase activity, photosynthetic pigments, essential minerals, RWC, proline content, and enzymatic antioxidant activities (catalase, peroxidase, ascorbate peroxidase, dehydroascorbate reductase, superoxide dismutase, and monodehydroascorbate reductase). A similar trend was observed for non-enzymatic antioxidant activities (ascorbic acid, glutathione, oxidized glutathione, and dehydroascorbic acid level) in leaves while oxidative damage in roots and leaves showed a negative correlation. Exogenous application of NaHS + Si could enhance Cr stress tolerance in chickpea and field studies are warranted for assessing crop yield under Cr-affected area

Functional capacity of XRCC1 protein variants identified in DNA repair-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cell lines and the human population

XRCC1 operates as a scaffold protein in base excision repair, a pathway that copes with base and sugar damage in DNA. Studies using recombinant XRCC1 proteins revealed that: a C389Y substitution, responsible for the repair defects of the EM-C11 CHO cell line, caused protein instability; a V86R mutation abolished the interaction with POLβ, but did not disrupt the interactions with PARP-1, LIG3α and PCNA; and an E98K substitution, identified in EM-C12, reduced protein integrity, marginally destabilized the POLβ interaction, and slightly enhanced DNA binding. Two rare (P161L and Y576S) and two frequent (R194W and R399Q) amino acid population variants had little or no effect on XRCC1 protein stability or the interactions with POLβ, PARP-1, LIG3α, PCNA or DNA. One common population variant (R280H) had no pronounced effect on the interactions with POLβ, PARP-1, LIG3α and PCNA, but did reduce DNA-binding ability. When expressed in HeLa cells, the XRCC1 variants—excluding E98K, which was largely nucleolar, and C389Y, which exhibited reduced expression—exhibited normal nuclear distribution. Most of the protein variants, including the V86R POLβ-interaction mutant, displayed normal relocalization kinetics to/from sites of laser-induced DNA damage: except for E98K and C389Y, and the polymorphic variant R280H, which exhibited a slightly shorter retention time at DNA breaks

A bibliography of parasites and diseases of marine and freshwater fishes of India

With the increasing demand for fish as human food, aquaculture both in freshwater and salt water is rapidly developing over the world. In the developing countries, fishes are being raised as food. In many countries fish farming is a very important economic activity. The most recent branch, mariculture, has shown advances in raising fishes in brackish, estuarine and bay waters, in which marine, anadromous and catadromous fishes have successfully been grown and maintained