185 research outputs found

    Prescription of Rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus Infections Increased the Incidence of Corynebacterium striatum with Decreased Susceptibility to Rifampicin in a Hungarian Clinical Center

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    Several reports have suggested a role for Corynebacterium striatum as an opportunistic pathogen. The authors have conducted a retrospective study at the Clinical Center of the University of Szeged, Hungary, between 2012 and 2021 that revealed significantly increased rifampicin resistance in this species. This work aimed to investigate the reasons behind this phenomenon. The data were collected corresponding to the period between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2021 at the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Szeged. To characterize the resistance trends, the antibiotic resistance index was calculated for each antibiotic in use. Fourteen strains with different resistance patterns were further analyzed with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy using the IR Biotyper®. The decline in C. striatum sensitivity to rifampicin seen during the COVID-19 pandemic may have been attributable to the use of Rifadin® to treat concomitant Staphylococcus aureus infections. The fact that the IR Biotyper® typing method revealed that the rifampicin-resistant C. striatum strains were closely related supports this hypothesis. The IR Biotyper® infrared spectroscopy proved to be a modern and fast method to support effective antimicrobial stewardship programs

    The Occurrence of Chlamydia felis in Cats and Dogs in Hungary

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    The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that many human infections are zoonoses, creating a worldwide public health challenge. Among Chlamydia species, Chlamydia felis is the leading cause of conjunctivitis in cats and is a prominent zoonotic species. This study aimed to determine the occurrence and risk of chlamydiosis in cats and dogs in Szeged, Hungary, and surrounding areas. The total nucleic acids from conjunctival swab samples of symptomatic and asymptomatic animals were extracted using an automated nucleic acid extraction system. After that, DNA was amplified by pan-chlamydia PCR. Bacterial and fungal cultures were also performed to detect other microorganisms. Of the 93 animals, 32 (34.4%) were positive for pan-chlamydia PCR. The positivity rates were 33.3% (26/78) in cats and 40.0% (6/15) in dogs. Furthermore, the positivity rates were 37.2% (16/43) in the cat shelter, 42.4% (14/33) in the veterinary clinic, and 11.7% (2/17) in household pets. In total, 103 species were identified through culture-based examinations, including 97 (94.2%) bacterial and 6 fungal (5.8%) species. From both human and animal health perspectives, it is essential to have a detailed understanding of the circumstances of chlamydiosis, given the global impact of zoonotic diseases

    Chlamydia pneumoniae in atherosclerotic middle cerebral artery

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    Background and Purpose—Atherosclerotic middle cerebral arteries are frequent sites of thrombosis, leading to stroke. Previous studies have suggested a role for Chlamydia pneumoniae in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, the presence of this pathogen in atherosclerotic middle cerebral arteries has heretofore not been documented. In the present study, we analyzed atheromatous plaques from middle cerebral arteries for the presence of C pneumoniae. Methods—Atherosclerotic middle cerebral arteries from 15 cadavers who died of natural causes and corresponding nonatherosclerotic arteries from 4 otherwise healthy trauma victims were examined. Assays for C pneumoniae DNA were carried out by nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) specific for the C pneumoniae ompA gene. The presence of the bacterium was assessed by transmission electron microscopy. Results—Five of the 15 atherosclerotic arterial samples and none of the control tissues were positive for C pneumoniae by nPCR. Particles similar in morphology and size to C pneumoniae elementary bodies were detected by transmission electron microscopy in 4 of the 5 nPCR-positive atherosclerotic samples. Conclusions—The demonstration of C pneumoniae in atherosclerotic middle cerebral arteries is consistent with the hypothesis that this bacterium is involved in acute and chronic cerebrovascular diseases

    Interplay between phenotypic resistance to relevant antibiotics in Gram-negative urinary pathogens: a data-driven analysis of 10 years’ worth of antibiogram data

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    The global emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a critical issue for clinicians, as it puts the decades of developments in the medical field in jeopardy, by severely limiting the useful therapeutic arsenal of drugs, both in nosocomial and community-acquired infections. In the present study, a secondary analysis of taxonomic and resistance data was performed, corresponding to urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by Gram-negative bacteria, detected between 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2017 at the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Health Center, University of Szeged. The following were identifiable from the data collected: year of isolation; outpatient (OP)/inpatient (IP) origin of the isolate; taxonomy; and susceptibility/resistance to selected indicator antibiotics. Principal component analysis (PCA) and a correlation matrix were used to determine the association between the presences of resistance against indicator antibiotics in each taxonomic group. Overall, data from n = 16,240 outpatient and n = 13,964 inpatient Gram-negative UTI isolates were included in the data analyses. In E. coli, strong positive correlations were seen between resistance to ciprofloxacin (CIP) and gentamicin (GEN) resistance (OP: r = 0.6342, p = 0.049; IP: r = 0.9602, p < 0.001), whereas strong negative correlations were shown for fosfomycin (FOS) and nitrofurantoin (NIT) resistance (OP: r = -0.7183, p = 0.019; IP: r = -0.7437; p = 0.014). For Klebsiella spp. isolates, CIP resistance showed strong positive correlation with resistance to third-generation cephalosporins (3GC) and GEN (r = 0.7976, p = 0.006 and r = 0.7428, p = 0.014, respectively) in OP isolates, and with resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) and FOS (r = 0.8144, p = 0.004 and r = 0.7758, p < 0.001, respectively) in IP isolates. For members of the Citrobacter-Enterobacter-Serratia group, the resistance among indicator antibiotics showed a strong positive correlation, with the exception of FOS resistance. In the Proteus-Providencia-Morganella group, the strongest association was noted between CIP and SXT resistance (OP: r = 0.9251, p < 0.001; IP: r = 0.8007; p = 0.005). In the case of OP Acinetobacter spp., CIP showed strong and significant positive correlations with most indicator antibiotics, whereas for IP isolates, strong negative correlations arose among imipenem (IMI) resistance and resistance to other drugs. For Pseudomonas spp., strong and positive correlations were noted among resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics and aminoglycosides, with the exception of ceftazidime (CEFT), showing strong, but negative correlations. Though molecular tests and sequencing-based platforms are now considered as the gold-standard for AMR surveillance, standardized collection of phenotypic resistance data and the introduction of Big Data analytic methods may be a viable alternative for molecular surveillance, especially in low-resource settings

    Cutibacterium acnes regulates the epidermal barrier properties of HPV-KER human immortalized keratinocyte cultures

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    Our skin provides a physical barrier to separate the internal part of our body from the environment. Maintenance of complex barrier functions is achieved through anatomical structures in the skin, the stratified squamous epithelium specialized junctional organelles, called tight junctions (TJs). Several members of our microbial communities are known to affect the differentiation state and function of the colonized organ. Whether and how interactions between skin cells and cutaneous microbes, including Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes), modify the structure and/or function of our skin is currently only partly understood. Thus, in our studies, we investigated whether C. acnes may affect the epidermal barrier using in vitro model systems. Real-time cellular analysis showed that depending on the keratinocyte differentiation state, the applied C. acnes strains and their dose, the measured impedance values change, together with the expression of selected TJ proteins. These may reflect barrier alterations, which can be partially restored upon antibiotic-antimycotic treatment. Our findings suggest that C. acnes can actively modify the barrier properties of cultured keratinocytes, possibly through alteration of tight cell-to-cell contacts. Similar events may play important roles in our skin, in the maintenance of cutaneous homeostasis
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