Benefits and Limitations of MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry for the Identification of Microorganisms
Jenna Rychert
ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is replacing traditional methods for identifying microorganisms in the clinical laboratory. This relatively simple technique overcomes many of the challenges of identifying bacteria and fungi. As the technology has evolved, the expansion of the databases containing spectra of known organisms has allowed for the identification of species with similar phenotypic, genotypic, and biochemical properties that was not previously possible. This has resulted in improvements in clinical care including improving the diagnosis of infections caused by relatively rare species and decreasing the time to diagnosis. In many cases, this leads to a reduction in the time to appropriate therapy and even a decrease in the length of hospital stays. However, it is not without its limitations. Inherent similarities between organisms and a limited number of spectra in the database can lead to poor discrimination between species, as well as misidentifications. These errors occur with relatively low frequency and can typically be overcome with supplemental testing. The adoption of MALDI-TOF MS in the clinical microbiology laboratory is revolutionizing infectious disease diagnosis and clinical care.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1142 View / Download Pdf Genetic Mutations Conferring Resistance to Candida albicans to Antifungal drugs: A Global Perspective and Regional Implications
PM Sawadogo1,2, A Zida1,2, I Sangaré5,6, TK Guiguemdé2,3, A. Sanfo1, M. Idani1, H Nacanabo1, S Bamba5,6, R Ouédraogo/Traoré2,3, TR Guiguemdé2,4
1Parasitology-Mycology Department, Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital Center, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
2Training and Research Unit in Health Sciences, Ouaga University 1 Professor Joseph Ki-Zerbo (UO1 / PrZKZ), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
3Parasitology-Mycology Department, Charles de Gaulle University Hospital Center, sector 28 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
4Muraz Research Center, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
5Parasitology-Mycology Department, Souro Sanou University Hospital, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
6Institut de Reccherche en Sciences de la Santé, Université Nazi Boni (UNB), Bobo Diuolasssa, Burkina Faso
This article aims to summarize the results of works from January 2013 to December 2017, on the molecular mechanisms of Candida albicans resistance to antifungal drugs. It is a prelude to a study on the molecular mechanisms of these resistances in Burkina Faso, with the aim of exploring new therapeutic solutions. Almost all studies have focused on the ERG11 gene as the most involved in azoles resistance. Mutations have also been demonstrated on other genes conferring resistance to other molecules such as CDR1 and 2, MRR1 and 2, TAC1 and ERG for polyenes, allylamines and azoles, FKS1 for echinocandins, FCA1 and FCY1 for pyrimidine analogues. Genetic mutations conferring the resistance of C. albicans to antifungals drugs worldwide are regularly reported, but in Burkina Faso we have no data on this subject. As a perspective therefore, a study on the molecular mechanisms of resistance of C. albicans to antifungals will be of great help in the fight against the resistance of this frequent yeast to antifungals drugs.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1143 View / Download Pdf Mini Review on the Impact of Mobile Parts' Exchange During the DAIR Procedure (Debridement, Antibiotics, Irrigation, Retention) for Infected Total Joint Arthroplasties
Pascal Bezel1, Sandro F. Fucentese2, Jan Burkhard1,3, Dominique Holy1,3, Arend J. Nieuwland2, Marco Burkhard2, Ilker Uçkay1,2,3,4*
1Internal Medicine, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
2Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
3Infectiology, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
4Unit for Clinical and Applied Research, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
A prosthetic joint infection (PJI) requires a combined approach (infectiology and surgery). The therapeutic DAIR approach (debridement, antibiotics, irrigation, and retention) is an option for acute and stable PJI yielding remission incidences that oscillate between 70% and 90%; in a literature mostly composed of retrospective single-center trials. DAIR can be performed with or without mobile part’s exchange during debridement. Scientific data proving the necessity of mobile part exchanges (by leaving other infected components in situ) remain scarce. In this narrative mini review, we evaluate the existing literature that analyses the benefit of exchanging mobile parts with at least ten own cases. We moreover discuss the optimal duration of concomitant targeted systemic antibiotic therapy and reveal some insights in the surgical difficulties in performing DAIR. Our conclusion tends to favor of the mobile part’s exchange whenever feasible.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1144 View / Download Pdf Clinical Approaches of HIV-1/HTLV-1 Co-infection Still Keep their Mysteries
Gerges Rizkallah1, Renaud Mahieux2, Hélène Dutartre2
1Faculty of Public Health, Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon
2Équipe oncogenèse rétrovirale, équipe labellisée «FRM», CIRI – Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Inserm, U1111, CNRS, UMR, ENS Lyon, Lyon, France
Two retroviruses emerged in the 1980s : HTLV-1 and HIV-11,2,3. HTLV-1 infects 5-10 million people worldwide and is detected in highly endemic areas, such as Japan, sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean region, South America4 as well as in Australian indigenous5. According to the UNAIDS’s 2018 fact sheet, HIV-1 is endemic worldwide, infects 37.9 million people and is particularly prevalent in central and South Africa, the Caribbean region, Latin America, South-East Asia and Eastern Europe6. HTLV-1 or HIV-1 infected individuals develop chronic infections. Only in 1-10% of infected carriers, HTLV-1 leads either to the development of Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL), or of Tropical Spastic Paraparesis/HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy (TSP/HAM)7. In most chronically infected people, HIV-1 infection leads to an Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and around 22% of the death causes among HIV-infected patients remains AIDS-related6. The aim of this mini-review is to highlight some of the points discussed in the review ‘’HTLV-1, the Other Pathogenic Yet Neglected Human Retrovirus: From Transmission to Therapeutic Treatment’’8. First, it will focus on the similarities regarding transmission mechanisms and cellular tropism between these retroviruses. Then, starting from the therapeutic protocols currently used in the treatment of each of these retroviral infections, this mini-review will summarize the therapeutic protocols used for co-infections management.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1146 View / Download Pdf Rifamycin SV Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities for Treatment of Mucosal and Liver Inflammation
Caridad Rosette, Alessandro Mazzetti, Roberto Camerini, Luigi Moro, Mara Gerloni*
Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, Riverside II. Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin, Ireland
Rifamycin SV (rifamycin), is a member of the ansamycin family of antimicrobial compounds which kills bacteria commonly associated with infectious diarrhea and other enteric infections. For colonic diseases like diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), bacterial proliferation or microbial dysbiosis is associated with a strong inflammatory component. This inflammation has a profound influence on the liver via the gut-liver axis. This review summarizes the anti-inflammatory activities of rifamycin based on analyses of its impact on two key regulators of inflammation: PXR and NFκB. Rifamycin was found to activate PXR and two of its downstream targets, CYP3A4 and PgP, in liver and intestinal cell lines. Rifamycin also directly inhibited NFκB in a cell line which lacks PXR expression. These dual activities likely explain the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion from human colonic cells lines and activated CD4+ T cells. These experimental data define the immune regulatory characteristics of rifamycin and an emerging role in the treatment of both gastrointestinal (GI) and liver disorders.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1145 View / Download Pdf Invasion of Human Nails by Microsporum canis
Daiane Flores Dalla Lana1*, Paula Reginatto2, William Lopes3, Marilene Henning Vainstein3, Alexandre Meneghello Fuentefria1,2
1Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
2Programa de Pós-graduação em Microbiologia Agrícola e do Ambiente, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
3Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
We report the invasion of the human nail plate by the dermatophytic species Microsporum canis, which was recently described as a biofilm former, in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images. With the images it was possible to evidence the propagation and aggregation of hyphae on the nails and also the formation of biofilm, as a pathogenicity and virulence factor of the species in cases of onychomycosis.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1151 View / Download Pdf With a Little Help from Good Friends – Boosters for the Prevention of Undesired Enzymatic Degradation of Anti-infective Drugs
Franz Bracher*
Ludwig-Maximilians University, Department of Pharmacy - Center for Drug Research, Butenandtstr., Munich, Germany
The development of anti-infective drugs has been one of the most impressive progresses in drug therapy in the past century. However, some of the promising antibacterial and antiviral drugs lost activity after being used in therapy for some time. Typically, this is due to the development of resistance phenomena, among which the expression of drug-degrading enzymes is one major aspect. In other cases, enzymatic degradation of anti-infective drugs by mammalian enzymes in the liver (or kidney) can limit the efficacy of the drugs. In all of these cases, selection of a drug from a different class is a therapeutic opportunity. Alternatively, the original drug can be used further in combination with other compounds named boosters, pharmacokinetic enhancers or antibiotic adjuvants. These compounds are used in combination with the primary anti-infective agent, but not for their direct effects on the infection itself, but since they enhance or restore the activity of the drug. This mini-review gives an overview on the therapeutically most important classes of boosters/antibiotic enhancers, like β-lactamase inhibitors, inhibitors of CYP enzymes in HIV therapy and hepatitis C. Inhibitors of efflux pumps in pathogenic bacteria and fungi will be addressed shortly.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1150 View / Download Pdf Multidrug Resistant Probiotics as an Alternative to Antibiotic Probiotic therapy
Dhanashree Lokesh1, Kammara Rajagopal1,2, Jae Ho Shin2*
1Department of Protein Chemistry and Technology, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore, India
2School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
Drug-resistance is a major problem globally, the number of drug-resistant bacteria has increased substantially through horizontal gene transfer. Even Mycobacterium tuberculosis are reported to have acquired antitubercular drug-resistance and named as MDR Mtb. The acquisition of immunity has not given up, here; it is needed to be a continuous procedure. Further causing the microbial adapting to a very high and larger number of drugs recognized as extreme drug and total drug-resistance. The mechanistic aspects of MDR Mtb are well understood. Nevertheless, this is not the case with Probiotic microbes such as Bifidobacterium adolescentis. Herein, we report the mechanistic aspects of antitubercular drug-resistance in this organism for the first time. This review discusses the report by a mutation that confers multi drug-resistance in Bifidobacteria.
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1147 View / Download Pdf Commentary: Differential Humoral and Cellular Immunity Induced by Vaccination using Plasmid DNA and Protein Recombinant Expressing the NS3 Protein of Dengue Virus type 3
DOI: 10.29245/2689-9981/2019/4.1148 View / Download PdfAngel Ramos-Ligonio1, Aracely López-Monteon1*
1LADISER Inmunología y Biología Molecular, Universidad Veracruzana, Orizaba, Veracruz, México