Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| distinct signaling pathways mediate cardiomyocyte phospholipase d stimulation by endothelin-1 and thrombin. | several g protein-coupled receptors which stimulate phospholipase c (plc) also activate phospholipase d (pld) in cardiomyocytes. here, we characterized pld activation in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes by the plc-stimulatory thrombin receptor par1, in comparison to the endothelin-1 receptor et(a)r, which induces pld stimulation by activation of protein kinase c (pkc) delta and epsilon. similar to et(a)r, activation of par1 induced pld stimulation, which, however, was insensitive to pkc inhibition. f ... | 2002 | 11991733 |
| [epidemiology. epidemics of clostridium difficile in geriatrics]. | 2001 | 11992965 | |
| ulcerative colitis complicating pseudomembranous colitis of the right colon. | a 65-year-old man in the remission stage of ulcerative colitis developed severe bloody diarrhea and high fever. he was treated with imipenem/cilastatin and clindamycin for infectious enterocolitis at a local hospital, but there was no improvement in his condition. steroid pulse therapy was also ineffective. colonoscopy revealed pseudomembranous colitis extending from the ascending colon to the cecum, and clostridium difficile toxin was positive in the feces. the administration of vancomycin in a ... | 2002 | 11993517 |
| [evaluation of an advisory program in antibiotic therapy]. | increases in microbial resistance and pharmaceutical costs have prompted an interest in antibiotic control programs (acp). nevertheless, there is controversy on the optimal acp design and implementation. an acp based on the infectious diseases' specialist recommendations was evaluated. | 2002 | 11996759 |
| clostridium difficile toxin a alters in vitro-adherent neutrophil morphology and function. | the effects of purified toxin a in vitro on the shape and function of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (pmnl) were examined. toxin a induced changes in adherent pmnl shape from a compact spherical or pyramidal shape to a thin and rope-like shape. this change in shape was accompanied by rearrangement of the f-actin cytoskeleton into aggregates. toxin a-treated pmnl exhibited increased adherence and expressed less l-selectin and more mac-1, compared with untreated pmnl. in contrast to these proinflamm ... | 2002 | 12001047 |
| analysis of macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin b (mls(b)) resistance determinant in strains of clostridium difficile. | the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin b (mlsb) resistance determinants have been detected among clostridia in both c. perfringens and c. difficile strains. previous studies have shown that mlsb-resistant c. difficile strains can be differentiated by specific hybridizing bands using an erm(b) probe. a recent study has demonstrated that c. difficile 630, a strain highly resistant to clindamycin and erythromycin (mic > or = 256 ml/l), showing a hybridizing band at 9.7 kb, contains two copies of a ... | 2002 | 12002649 |
| early versus late enteral feeding of mechanically ventilated patients: results of a clinical trial. | this study sought to compare 2 strategies for the administration of enteral feeding to mechanically ventilated medical patients. | 2002 | 12005458 |
| diarrhoea following renal transplantation. | in this study, we retrospectively evaluated all attacks of diarrhoea in our renal transplant recipients that came to our medical attention between 1985 and 2000. also, the clinical features of patients with diarrhoea were compared with the features of recipients without diarrhoea. we diagnosed 41 attacks of diarrhoea in 39 (12.6%) of 308 renal transplant recipients during this time period. an aetiology was detected in 33 (80.5%) of all diarrhoeal episodes and in seven (17.1%) of those the specif ... | 2002 | 12010146 |
| variable flagella expression among clonal toxin a-/b+clostridium difficile strains with highly homogeneous flagellin genes. | 2002 | 12010175 | |
| reassessment of clostridium difficile susceptibility to metronidazole and vancomycin. | clostridium difficile is the most frequently identified enteric pathogen in patients with nosocomially acquired, antibiotic-associated diarrhea. the drugs most commonly used to treat diseases associated with c. difficile are metronidazole and vancomycin. most clinical laboratories assume that all c. difficile isolates are susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin. we report on the antimicrobial susceptibilities of 415 c. difficile isolates to metronidazole and vancomycin over an 8-year period ... | 2002 | 12019070 |
| nitazoxanide as a broad-spectrum antiparasitic agent. | 2002 | 12023782 | |
| conditions associated with leukocytosis in a tertiary care hospital, with particular attention to the role of infection caused by clostridium difficile. | few modern studies have enumerated the conditions associated with leukocytosis. our clinical experience has implicated clostridium difficile infection in a substantial proportion of patients with leukocytosis. in a prospective, observational study of 400 inpatients with wbc counts of >/=15,000 cells/mm(3), we documented >/=1 infection in 207 patients (53%). of these 207 patients, 97 (47%) had pneumonia, 60 (29%) had urinary tract infection, 34 (16%) had soft-tissue infection, and 34 (16%) had c. ... | 2002 | 12032893 |
| evaluation of a test for clostridium difficile toxins a and b for the diagnosis of neonatal swine enteritis. | a commercially available 1-hour enzyme immunoassay (eia) for detecting the presence of clostridium difficile toxins a and b was evaluated for use in diagnosis of c. difficile infections in neonatal swine. this test was compared with a tissue culture cytotoxicity assay, which is considered to be the reference standard for the detection of c. difficile toxins. twenty-seven samples of colonic contents and 23 fecal samples were collected from freshly euthanized neonatal swine with a history of scour ... | 2002 | 12033686 |
| prevalence and genetic characterization of toxin a variant strains of clostridium difficile among adults and children with diarrhea in france. | toxin a variant strains (toxin a-negative, toxin b-positive strains) of clostridium difficile have been reported to be responsible for diarrhea or pseudomembranous colitis in humans. these strains lack parts of the repeating sequences of the toxin a gene (tcda) and are toxin a negative by commercial enzyme immunoassays (eia). here, we report the prevalence of the toxin a variant strains in 334 patients with c. difficile-associated diarrhea in france. the repeating segment of the tcda gene (1,200 ... | 2002 | 12037068 |
| development and evaluation of a pcr method for detection of the clostridium difficile toxin b gene in stool specimens. | a pcr assay detecting clostridium difficile toxin b gene in stool specimens was compared to the cytotoxicity assay as the reference standard for the diagnosis of c. difficile antibiotic-associated diarrhea (cdad). overall, 118 stool samples were tested. all of the specimens that were negative by the cytotoxicity assay (59 out of 118) were also negative by the pcr method (specificity of 100%). of the 59 cytotoxin-positive samples, 54 were pcr positive (sensitivity of 91.5%). this pcr method is pr ... | 2002 | 12037113 |
| caveolin-associated filamentous actin (cav-actin) defines a novel f-actin structure in adipocytes. | dynamic actin remodeling has been implicated in the translocation of the insulin-responsive glucose transporter 4 (glut4) to the plasma membrane in adipocytes. here we show that fully differentiated 3t3l1 adipocytes have unique cortical filamentous actin structure, designated cav-actin (caveolae-associated f-actin). during 3t3l1 adipocyte differentiation, rhodamine-phalloidin staining demonstrated the formation of a cortical actin cytoskeleton that is composed of small dot-like f-actin spikes li ... | 2002 | 12039946 |
| protozoan enteric infection in aids related diarrhea in thailand. | the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of enteric protozoa and other pathogens in aids patients with diarrhea in bangkok, thailand. of 288 consecutive patients screened in the 10 month period between november 1999-august 2000 inclusive, 55 (19.2%) had cryptosporidium spp, 13 (4.5%) had isospora oocyst, 11 (3.8%) had giardia lamblia, 3 (0.9%) had entamoeba histolytica, and 1 (0.3%) had iodamoeba butschlii infection. the prevalence of microsporidia was 11% in this study. of 251 pati ... | 2001 | 12041580 |
| role of the enteric nervous system in the pathophysiology of secretory diarrhea. | details of the physiology and pathophysiology of epithelial secretion in the gastrointestinal tract are becoming clear, leading to new models of the mechanisms underlying diarrhea. the enteric nervous system is a critical component of the mechanism regulating fluid secretion in the normal gut and a key element in the pathophysiology of diarrhea. neural reflex pathways increase epithelial fluid secretion in response to several enteric pathogens of veterinary importance such as salmonella spp., cr ... | 2002 | 12041649 |
| value of clostridium difficile antigen test in immunocompromised hosts in the tropics. | 39 fecal and body fluid specimens of immunocompromised patients who developed diarrhoea were tested for clostridium difficile antigen test. the test was identified in only 11 and in one ascitic fluid. endoscopy was performed in 5 patients and it showed pseudomembranous colitis in one. numerous antibiotics were associated with c. difficile related diarrhea: ampicillin, 43%; cephalosporins, 43% and clindamycin, 14%. three salmonella sp., and one entamoeba histolytica were detected among patients w ... | 1991 | 12041792 |
| comparative study of cefuroxime axetil versus amoxicillin in children with early lyme disease. | cefuroxime axetil has been shown to have efficacy comparable to doxycycline in adults with early lyme disease (ld). because of toxicity, doxycycline is usually avoided in children. for children who are unable to tolerate amoxicillin, there is currently no proven alternative oral therapy for ld. this randomized, unblinded study compared 2 dosage regimens of cefuroxime axetil (20 mg/kg/d and 30 mg/kg/d) with amoxicillin (50 mg/kg/d), each given for 20 days. children were enrolled if they were 6 mo ... | 2002 | 12042561 |
| probiotics in clinical conditions. | probiotics are nonpathogenic microorganisms which, when ingested, exert a positive influence on the health or physiology of the host. their mechanisms of action and effects are now studied using the same pharmacological approach as for drugs. this article summarizes and comments on evidence for the positive effects of probiotics in various clinical situations. substantial evidence can be achieved when randomized controlled trials or meta-analyses show positive results. the clinical situations st ... | 2002 | 12043384 |
| the commonality of risk factors for nosocomial colonization and infection with antimicrobial-resistant staphylococcus aureus, enterococcus, gram-negative bacilli, clostridium difficile, and candida. | recent years have witnessed a rapidly growing crisis in antimicrobial resistance, especially among microorganisms that cause nosocomial infection. to better understand common risk factors among multiresistant organisms, this review explores risk factors for nosocomial infection with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus, clostridium difficile, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing gram-negative bacilli, and candida. this review comprises data from 74 ... | 2002 | 12044132 |
| clostridium difficile diarrhea on a burn unit. | 2002 | 12052382 | |
| theodore e. woodward award. how bacterial enterotoxins work: insights from in vivo studies. | clostridium difficile is a spore forming, gram-positive anaerobic bacillus first described in 1935 by hall and o'toole as a commensal organism in the fecal flora of healthy newborn infants (1). the organism was given its unusual name because it grew slowly and was difficult to isolate in pure culture. its presence in the stool of healthy neonates suggested that c. difficile was a nonpathogen, even though it produced toxins in broth culture. following its original description, c. difficile passed ... | 2002 | 12053708 |
| interleukin-1 inhibits angiotensin ii-stimulated protein kinase b pathway in renal mesangial cells via the inducible nitric oxide synthase. | exposure of rat renal mesangial cells to angiotensin ii and angiotensin iii leads to a rapid phosphorylation and activation of the protein kinase b (pkb) pathway. the angiotensin ii analogs angiotensin-(1-7), angiotensin-(1-6) and angiotensin-(3-8) were unable to activate pkb. the angiotensin ii and iii effects are mediated by the angiotensin type 1 receptor as documented by the inhibitory action of valsartan. furthermore, angiotensin ii-induced activation of pkb involves neither a pertussis tox ... | 2002 | 12065072 |
| experimental effects of saccharomyces boulardii on diarrheal pathogens. | saccharomyces boulardii is a selected strain of yeast that may have applications in the prevention and treatment of intestinal infections. the animal models and in vitro studies developed to elucidate the mechanisms of this protection are reviewed and discussed. | 2002 | 12067833 |
| signalling components involved in the coupling of alpha 1-adrenoceptors to phospholipase d in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. | activation of phospholipase d (pld) is assumed to be one major pathway by which alpha(1)-adrenoceptors (alpha(1)ars) induce hypertrophic responses in cardiac myocytes. heterotrimeric g proteins, protein kinase c (pkc) isoforms, protein tyrosine kinases, monomeric gtpases of the adp-ribosylation factor (arf) and rho families, and as important cofactor phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (pip(2)) seem to participate in the g protein-coupled receptor dependent regulation of pld. we therefore stud ... | 2002 | 12070761 |
| inhibition of in vitro cell adherence of clostridium difficile by saccharomyces boulardii. | the influence on the adherence of clostridium difficile to vero cells of the yeast saccharomyces boulardii, the yeast fractions (cytoplasm and cell wall) and the culture supernatant was investigated in vitro. c. difficile adherence was significantly inhibited when bacteria were pre-incubated with the whole yeast and the cell wall fraction; this adherence inhibition was dose-dependent. the cell wall fraction also acts upon the target cultured cells inasmuch as the level of adherence was significa ... | 2002 | 12071678 |
| patterns of sequence conservation in the s-layer proteins and related sequences in clostridium difficile. | clostridium difficile is the etiological agent of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. among the factors that may play a role in infection are s-layer proteins (slps). previous work has shown these to consist mainly of two components, resulting from the cleavage of a precursor encoded by the slpa gene. the high-molecular-weight (mw) subunit is related both to amidases from b. subtilis and to at least another 28 gene products in c. difficile strain 630. to gain insight into the functions of the slps a ... | 2002 | 12081960 |
| nutritional advantages of probiotics and prebiotics. | the potential 'nutritional advantages' of probiotics and prebiotics consist of preventive, and sometimes curative, effects against certain diseases. the evidence supporting such advantages, which requires randomised controlled trials and consistency of results from study to study, is rapidly increasing. this article summarizes the effects against diseases of intestinal origin. there is a high level of evidence for positive effects of some prebiotics to alleviate constipation and treat hepatic en ... | 2002 | 12088512 |
| c difficile induced pneumatosis intestinalis in a neutropenic child. | 2002 | 12089138 | |
| clostridium difficile genotyping based on slpa variable region in s-layer gene sequence: an alternative to serotyping. | recent investigations of clostridium difficile cell wall components have revealed the presence of an s-layer encoded by the slpa gene. the aim of this study was to determine whether slpa genotyping can be used as an alternative to serotyping. the variable regions of slpa were amplified by pcr from serogroup reference strains and various clinical isolates chosen randomly. amplified products were analyzed after restriction enzyme digestion and dna sequencing. the sequences of the variable region o ... | 2002 | 12089261 |
| recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor and transforming growth factor-beta mediated contraction of human dermal fibroblast populated lattices is inhibited by rho/gtpase inhibitor but does not require phosphatidylinositol-3' kinase. | matrix reorganization and tissue contraction are essential for wound healing. however, the intracellular signals that mediate these processes are largely unknown. we investigated cytokine-induced signaling and its potential role in contraction of adult human dermal fibroblast populated collagen lattices. the results document that recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-bb and transforming growth factor-1 individually stimulate contraction of fibroblast populated collagen lattices, while ... | 2002 | 12100378 |
| proteins released during high toxin production in clostridium difficile. | the mechanism by which toxins a and b are released by clostridium difficile is unknown and information about the other extracellular proteins of this bacterium is limited. the authors identified exported proteins from c. difficile strain vpi 10463 during conditions promoting high toxin production. toxins a and b were released in a 1:1 ratio and the proportion of toxin in the extracellular fraction reached 50% during the stationary phase as compared to a proportion of <1% for typical cytoplasmic ... | 2002 | 12101311 |
| fatal pseudomembranous colitis in a continent urinary neobladder. | antibiotic-associated colitis is a significant clinical problem, especially in patients hospitalized for longer than three days. clostridium difficile is now established as the most common nosocomial enteric pathogen causing antibiotic-associated colitis. the condition rarely occurs beyond the boundaries of the large bowel, but can represent significant diagnostic and therapeutic problems if it involves bowel that is used in the creation of a diversionary reservoir such as an ileo-cecal neobladd ... | 2002 | 12101580 |
| clostridium difficile toxin b activates dual caspase-dependent and caspase-independent apoptosis in intoxicated cells. | clostridium difficile toxin b (tcdb) inactivates the small gtpases rho, rac and cdc42 during intoxication of mammalian cells. in the current work, we show that tcdb has the potential to stimulate caspase-dependent and caspase-independent apoptosis. the apoptotic pathways became evident when caspase-3-processed-vimentin was detected in tcdb-treated hela cells. caspase-3 activation was subsequently confirmed in tcdb-intoxicated hela cells. interestingly, caspase inhibitor delayed tcdb-induced cell ... | 2002 | 12102688 |
| high prevalence of toxin a-negative toxin b-positive clostridium difficile in hospitalized patients with gastrointestinal disease. | the incidence of clostridium difficile toxin a-negative toxin b-positive in hospitalized patients with severe gastrointestinal disease was evaluated. of 530 stool specimens tested in parallel by two immunoassay tests, tox a and tox a/b (techlab, inc., blacksburg, va), 422 produced negative results on both tests. one hundred eight specimens (20.4%) tested positive by tox a/b assay, and only 47 of them were also positive by tox a. the 61 specimens with discrepant results were confirmed to be posit ... | 2002 | 12106951 |
| double-blind, placebo-controlled study comparing the effect of azithromycin with clarithromycin on oropharyngeal and bowel microflora in volunteers. | the purpose of this double-blind study was to assess the effect of azithromycin and clarithromycin on oral and fecal microflora. bacterial species from fecal samples and throat washes from healthy volunteers were identified and quantified before, during and after receipt of either placebo ( n=6), azithromycin (500 mg once daily for 3 days; n=6) or clarithromycin (500 mg twice daily for 7 days; n=6). in both antibiotic groups, the changes in oropharyngeal aerobic microflora following antibiotic a ... | 2002 | 12111597 |
| hospital-acquired clostridium difficile infection amongst icu and burn patients in kuwait. | to prospectively study the prevalence of nosocomially acquired clostridium difficile, a major cause of diarrhoea in hospitalized patients, in the intensive care units (icus) and burn unit (bus) of three teaching hospitals in kuwait. | 2002 | 12116691 |
| legionellosis in a lung transplant recipient obscured by cytomegalovirus infection and clostridium difficile colitis. | a 52-year-old-white male underwent double lung transplantation for severe emphysema due to alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and heavy tobacco use. following a postoperative course complicated by renal insufficiency, pulmonary emboli, and clostridium difficile colitis, he was discharged in stable condition. two months later, he was admitted to a local hospital with a fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and dyspnea. computerized tomography (ct) of the chest revealed bilateral pleural effusions. ... | 2002 | 12123425 |
| small gtp-binding protein tc10 differentially regulates two distinct populations of filamentous actin in 3t3l1 adipocytes. | tc10 is a member of the rho family of small gtp-binding proteins that has previously been implicated in the regulation of insulin-stimulated glut4 translocation in adipocytes. in a manner similar to cdc42-stimulated actin-based motility, we have observed that constitutively active tc10 (tc10/q75l) can induce actin comet tails in xenopus oocyte extracts in vitro and extensive actin polymerization in the perinuclear region when expressed in 3t3l1 adipocytes. in contrast, expression of tc10/q75l co ... | 2002 | 12134073 |
| rac regulates endothelial morphogenesis and capillary assembly. | endothelial cells undergo branching morphogenesis to form capillary tubes. we have utilized an in vitro matrigel overlay assay to analyze the role of the cytoskeleton and rho gtpases during this process. the addition of matrix first induces changes in cell morphology characterized by the formation of dynamic cellular protrusions and the assembly of discrete aggregates or cords of aligned cells resembling primitive capillary-like structures, but without a recognizable lumen. this is followed by c ... | 2002 | 12134084 |
| breaking the cycle: treatment strategies for 163 cases of recurrent clostridium difficile disease. | there is currently uncertainty as to the best treatment for patients with recurrent episodes of clostridium difficile disease (rcdd). our objective was to evaluate the success of treatment strategies in a cohort of 163 rcdd patients. | 2002 | 12135033 |
| fluorescent analogs of udp-glucose and their use in characterizing substrate binding by toxin a from clostridium difficile. | uridine-5'-diphospho-1-alpha-d-glucose (udp-glc) is a common substrate used by glucosyltransferases, including certain bacterial toxins such as toxins a and b from clostridium difficile. fluorescent analogs of udp-glc have been prepared for use in our studies of the clostridial toxins. these compounds are related to the methylanthraniloyl-atp compounds commonly used to probe the chemistry of atp-dependent enzymes. the reaction of excess methylisatoic anhydride with udp-glc in aqueous solution yi ... | 2002 | 12135481 |
| adhesion-related kinase repression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone gene expression requires rac activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway. | recent studies suggest that adhesion-related kinase (ark) plays a role in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (gnrh) neuronal physiology. ark promotes migration of gnrh neurons via rac gtpase and concomitantly suppresses gnrh gene expression via homeodomain and myocyte enhancer factor-2 (mef2) transcription factors. here, we investigated the signaling cascade required for ark inhibition of the gnrh promoter in gt1-7 gnrh neuronal cells. ark repression was blocked by the mek/erk pathway inhibitor, pd9 ... | 2002 | 12138087 |
| differential expression and polarized secretion of cxc and cc chemokines by human intestinal epithelial cancer cell lines in response to clostridium difficile toxin a. | intestinal epithelial cells are the initial sites of host response to clostridium difficile infection and can play a role in signaling the influx of inflammatory cells. to further explore this role, the regulated expression and polarized secretion of cxc and cc chemokines by human intestinal epithelial cells were investigated. an expression of the cxc chemokines, including il-8 and growth-related oncogene (gro)-alpha, and the cc chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein (mcp)-1 from ht-29 cells ... | 2002 | 12139393 |
| antecedent treatment with different antibiotic agents as a risk factor for vancomycin-resistant enterococcus. | we conducted a matched case-control study to compare the effect of antecedent treatment with various antibiotics on subsequent isolation of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (vre); 880 in-patients; 233 vre cases, and 647 matched controls were included. after being matched for hospital location, calendar time, and duration of hospitalization, the following variables predicted vre positivity: main admitting diagnosis; a coexisting condition (e.g., diabetes mellitus, organ transplant, or hepatobili ... | 2002 | 12141965 |
| withdrawal of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase inhibitors elicits oxidative stress and induces endothelial dysfunction in mice. | 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase inhibitors (statins) improve endothelial function. we determined whether withdrawal of statin therapy affects endothelium-dependent relaxation in mice and studied the underlying mechanism. mice were treated with daily injections of cerivastatin (2 mg/kg per day sc), atorvastatin (1 and 10 mg/kg per day sc), or placebo. vascular reactivity was studied in aortic rings from these mice after 10 days of treatment and after cessation of therapy for sever ... | 2002 | 12142351 |
| impairment of autoregulatory vasodilation by nad(p)h oxidase-dependent superoxide generation during acute stage of subarachnoid hemorrhage in rat pial artery. | this study assessed the mechanism(s) by which the autoregulatory vasodilation of rat pial artery in response to acute hypotension during the acute phase of subarachnoid hemorrhage (sah) was markedly blunted. increased superoxide production from the cerebral vessels in response to nad(p)h at 24 hours after sah + ng-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-name) (10 mg/kg) was inhibited by intracisternal administration of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein (10 micromol/l) and rac inhibitor clostridium ... | 2002 | 12142572 |
| clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and chronic renal insufficiency. | clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (cdad) is a common cause of mortality and morbidity in hospitalized patients. some case reports have implicated renal failure as a risk factor for cdad. the aim of this study was to assess whether chronic renal insufficiency is a risk factor for cdad and whether it increases mortality and morbidity. | 2002 | 12144071 |
| one-step cloning and expression of clostridium difficile toxin b gene (tcdb). | the toxin genes of clostridium difficile have been previously cloned by reconstructing the entire gene in a series of steps in sequence using several cloned fragments. amplification of a 7.9 kb fragment corresponding to the toxin b gene (tcdb) was obtained with expand long template pcr system. the amplified fragment was inserted into the e. coli expression vector pbad and cloned into competent e. coli top 10 cells. tcdb gene sequences representing the complete toxin gene were detected in 3/120 ( ... | 2002 | 12144768 |
| prevalence of gastrointestinal disease caused by clostridium difficile in a university hospital in hungary. | a one-year survey was undertaken to investigate the frequency of diarrhoea caused by clostridium difficile among patients in a 1200-bed university hospital in hungary. the vidas (biomérieux) toxin a detection kit was used for screening specimens for the presence of c. difficile toxin. for all other diarrhoeal specimens selected according to special criteria, cytotoxin testing was used to determine the presence of 'free toxin' in the faeces. during the study period, a total of 945 diarrhoeal faec ... | 2002 | 12144795 |
| corticotropin-releasing hormone antagonists possess anti-inflammatory effects in the mouse ileum. | corticotropin-releasing hormone (crh) released at local sites of inflammation promotes inflammation in the periphery. we investigated its effects in the intestinal responses caused by toxin a from clostridium difficile, the causative agent of antibiotic-associated colitis. | 2002 | 12145804 |
| clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea: current strategies for diagnosis and therapy. | clostridium difficile, a spore-forming toxigenic bacterium, is one of the most common causes of infectious diarrhea and colitis in the united states. most patients with c. difficile infection have recently received antimicrobial therapy--usually clindamycin, cephalosporins, or the extended-spectrum penicillins. clinical presentation varies from asymptomatic colonization to mild diarrhea to severe colitis. the mainstay of diagnosis is detection of c. difficile toxin a, toxin b, or both with a cyt ... | 2002 | 12149168 |
| low incidence of concurrent enteric infection associated with sporadic and outbreak-related human cryptosporidiosis in northern ireland. | 2002 | 12149394 | |
| [epidemiology of clostridium difficile infection]. | pseudomembranous colitis (pmc), antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (aad), and colitis (aac) caused by clostridium difficile are recognized as complications of antibiotic treatment (cephalosporins, penicillins, clindamycin and others). two groups are particularly at risk: older and immunocompromised patients. in recent years c. difficile has been recognized as a common nosocomial pathogen. to understand the epidemiology of the c. difficile infection, many outbreaks have been investigated by various ... | 2002 | 12150067 |
| the diagnosis of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea: comparison of triage c. difficile panel, eia for tox a/b and cytotoxin assays. | this study prospectively compared; triage(r) c. difficile test (tct), techlab c. difficile toxin a-b enzyme immuno-assay (eia), and cell-culture cytotoxin test (ct). of the 400 stools tested, 99 were positive by any test with 92, 41 and 58 detected by tct, eia and ct, respectively. culture of discordant samples indicated that 52 contained c. difficile (42 toxigenic, 10 non-toxigenic), 10 contained clostridium species and 2 had no detectable clostridium isolates. there were 21/42 toxigenic c. dif ... | 2002 | 12151184 |
| yoghurt biotherapy: contraindicated in immunosuppressed patients? | a fatal case of lactobacillus rhamnosus septicaemia after prolonged oral vancomycin for recalcitrant clostridium difficile infection is reported. the patient was immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide and steroids for sjögren's syndrome. the administration of lactobacillus spp as "biotherapy" may be hazardous in such circumstances. | 2002 | 12151695 |
| a survey of agents associated with neonatal diarrhea in iowa swine including clostridium difficile and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus. | this survey was undertaken to determine the relative frequency of agents that are currently associated with neonatal diarrhea in swine, including clostridium difficile and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (prrsv). the subjects for this study were the first 100 live 1-7-day-old piglets submitted to the iowa state university veterinary diagnostic laboratory with a clinical signalment of diarrhea, beginning on january 1, 2000. the evaluation of each pig included bacterial culture ... | 2002 | 12152806 |
| occupational health and safety in small animal veterinary practice: part i--nonparasitic zoonotic diseases. | zoonotic diseases are an ever-present concern in small animal veterinary practice and are often overlooked. a variety of nonparasitic zoonotic diseases may be encountered in small animal practice, including cat scratch disease (bartonellosis), cat bite abscesses, rabies, leptospirosis, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea, salmonellosis, avian chlamydiosis, campylobacteriosis, dermatophytosis, and blastomycosis. these may cause human disease rang ... | 2002 | 12170843 |
| haemophilus segnis polymicrobial and monomicrobial bacteraemia identified by 16s ribosomal rna gene sequencing. | this paper reports a case of haemophilus segnis polymicrobial bacteraemia and a case of h. segnis monomicrobial bacteraemia identified by 16s ribosomal rna gene sequencing. in the first case, a gram-negative aerobic coccobacillus was isolated with streptococcus intermedius and s. sanguis from the blood culture of a 32-year-old intravenous drug addict with left thoracic empyema. in the second case, a gram-negative aerobic coccobacillus was isolated from the blood culture of an 82-year-old woman w ... | 2002 | 12171293 |
| intravenous immunoglobulin for recurrent clostridium difficile diarrhoea. | 2002 | 12171976 | |
| [clostridium difficile strains not producing toxin a, but producing toxin b [toxa(-)tox b(+)]--etiologic agent of antibiotic associated diarrhoea (aad) in poland]. | previously, toxin a-negative/toxin b-positive clostridium difficile strains were not thought to be associated with clinically significant diseases. in our study among 159 tested c. difficile strains isolated from feacal samples from 413 patients with antibiotic associated diarrhoea (aad) 17 strains (11%) were negative in the "culturette brand toxin" cd (becton-dickinson) for detection toxin a and positive in the tox a/b test, designed for detection of both toxins. the conserved regions of both t ... | 2002 | 12185683 |
| undetected vancomycin-resistant enterococcus stool colonization in a veterans affairs hospital using a clostridium difficile-focused surveillance strategy. | we examined the point prevalence of undetected vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (vre) stool colonization in an institution that screens stool samples submitted for clostridium difficile testing. of 112 patients not known to be colonized, 10 (9%) had rectal vre colonization. a prospective algorithm was effective for identification of colonized patients. | 2002 | 12186217 |
| colitis associated with variant clostridium difficile. | 2002 | 12186530 | |
| detection of toxin production in clostridium difficile strains by three different methods. | to compare two immunoassays for detection of toxins produced in vitro by isolates of clostridium difficile with the standard tissue culture assay, to help in the diagnosis of c. difficile-associated diarrhoea. | 2002 | 12199851 |
| ccl19 induces rapid dendritic extension of murine dendritic cells. | dendritic cells (dcs) possess numerous dendrites that may be of great advantage to interaction with t cells. however, it has been poorly understood how the dendritic morphology of a dc is controlled. in the present study, using a murine spleen-derived dc line, we analyzed effects of ccr7 ligands, ccl19 and ccl21, on dendritic morphology. mature dcs, but not immature dcs, showed vigorous migration to either ccl19 or ccl21. ccl19 also rapidly (within 30 minutes) induced marked extension of dendrit ... | 2002 | 12200351 |
| molecular analysis of the pathogenicity locus and polymorphism in the putative negative regulator of toxin production (tcdc) among clostridium difficile clinical isolates. | the pathogenicity locus (paloc) of clostridium difficile contains toxin a and b genes and three accessory genes, including tcdd and tcdc, which are supposed to code for the positive and negative regulators of toxin expression, respectively. different studies have described variations in c. difficile toxin a and b genes, but little is known about c. difficile variants for the accessory genes. the paloc of several c. difficile clinical isolates was investigated by three different pcr methods with ... | 2002 | 12202595 |
| pulsed-field gel electrophoresis can yield dna fingerprints of degradation-susceptible clostridium difficile strains. | 2002 | 12202619 | |
| adjunctive intracolonic vancomycin for severe clostridium difficile colitis: case series and review of the literature. | successful treatment of severe clostridium difficile colitis has been reported with the use of adjunctive intracolonic vancomycin (icv) therapy. we report a descriptive case series and review the literature on patients with c. difficile colitis who received adjunctive icv therapy. nine patients received antibiotics within 6 weeks prior to presentation. complete resolution of the clinical presentation occurred in 8 patients (88.9%), and eradication of c. difficile cytotoxin production was documen ... | 2002 | 12203166 |
| the hiv-1 nef protein and phagocyte nadph oxidase activation. | nef, a multifunctional hiv protein, activates the vav/rac/p21-activated kinase (pak) signaling pathway. given the potential role of this pathway in the activation of the phagocyte nadph oxidase, we have investigated the effect of the hiv-1 nef protein on the phagocyte respiratory burst. microglia (cell line and primary culture) were transduced with lentiviral expression vectors. expression of nef did not activate the nadph oxidase by itself but led to a massive enhancement of the responses to a ... | 2002 | 12207012 |
| reduction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-alpha) related nuclear factor-kappab (nf-kappab) translocation but not inhibitor kappa-b (ikappa-b)-degradation by rho protein inhibition in human endothelial cells. | degradation of inhibitor kappa-b (ikappa-b) followed by translocation of nuclear factor-kappab (nf-kappab) into the nucleus and activation of gene expression is essential in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-alpha)-signaling. in order to analyze the role of rho proteins in tnf-alpha-induced nf-kappab-activation in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (huvec) we used clostridium difficile toxin b-10463 (tcdb-10463) which inactivates rhoa/rac1/cdc42 by glucosylation and clostridium botulinum ... | 2002 | 12213594 |
| probiotics and inflammatory bowel disease: from fads and fantasy to facts and future. | probiotic therapy is attracting the renewed interest of clinicians and basic investigators from a variety of traditional research disciplines. while the theoretical rationale for modifying the commensal flora of the gastrointestinal tract in specific circumstances appears sound and requires scientific pursuit, the field of probiotics has been clouded by exaggerated claims from some quarters. in general, many of the claims for therapeutic efficacy have not been well substantiated, but the field i ... | 2002 | 12215176 |
| probiotics and intestinal health effects: a clinical perspective. | probiotics are viable non-pathogenic micro-organisms which, when ingested, exert a positive influence on host health or physiology. we have critically analysed the evidence for the efficacy of specific probiotic strains in human gastrointestinal diseases. the best evidence can be obtained with randomised controlled trials which avoid bias. good evidence has been obtained with several strains in the prevention or treatment of antibiotic-associated disorders, in the treatment (and to a lesser exte ... | 2002 | 12215185 |
| a crk-ii/tc10 signaling pathway is required for osmotic shock-stimulated glucose transport. | osmotic shock stimulates the translocation of the glucose transporter glut 4 to plasma membrane by a tyrosine kinase signaling pathway involving gab-1 (the grb2-associated binder-1 protein). we show here that, in response to osmotic shock, gab-1 acts as a docking protein for phospholipase cgamma1, the p85 subunit of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase and crk-ii. it has been shown that the adapter crk-ii is constitutively associated with c3g, a gdp to gtp exchange factor for several small gtp-binding ... | 2002 | 12215429 |
| angiotensin ii stimulation of nad(p)h oxidase activity: upstream mediators. | angiotensin ii (ang ii)-stimulated hypertrophy of vascular smooth muscle cells is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ros) derived from nad(p)h oxidases. the upstream signaling mechanisms by which ang ii activates these oxidases are unclear but may include protein kinase c, tyrosine kinases, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, and rac, a small molecular weight g protein. we found that ang ii-stimulated ros production is biphasic. the first phase occurs rapidly (peak at 30 seconds) and is dependent o ... | 2002 | 12215489 |
| rho protein inactivation induced apoptosis of cultured human endothelial cells. | small gtp-binding rho gtpases regulate important signaling pathways in endothelial cells, but little is known about their role in endothelial cell apoptosis. clostridial cytotoxins specifically inactivate gtpases by glucosylation [clostridium difficile toxin b-10463 (tcdb-10463), c. difficile toxin b-1470 (tcdb-1470)] or adp ribosylation (c. botulinum c3 toxin). exposure of human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (huvec) to tcdb-10463, which inhibits rhoa/rac1/cdc42, or to c3 toxin, which in ... | 2002 | 12225960 |
| binding of clostridium difficile surface layer proteins to gastrointestinal tissues. | clostridium difficile is the etiological agent of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, a potentially serious condition frequently affecting elderly hospitalized patients. while tissue damage is primarily induced by two toxins, the mechanism of gut colonization, and particularly the role of bacterial adherence to the mucosa, remains to be clarified. previous studies have shown binding of c. difficile whole cells to cultured cell lines and suggested the existence of multiple adhesins, only one of which ... | 2002 | 12228307 |
| antidiarrhoeal properties of a novel sigma ligand (jo 2871) on toxigenic diarrhoea in mice: mechanisms of action. | sigma ligands display antisecretory activity against various secretagogues, suggesting antidiarrhoeal properties. in this study, we evaluated: (i) the antidiarrhoeal effect of jo 2871, a high affinity sigma ligand, in three models of toxigenic diarrhoea in mice; and (ii) the site and mechanism of action of this compound. | 2002 | 12235074 |
| risk factors for recurrence of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in the elderly. | risk factors that influence the recurrence of nosocomial clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (cdad) were determined in an 18-month follow-up study in a subacute geriatric department. a case-control study was conducted, comparing 43 patients with recurrent c. difficile-associated diarrhea (rcdad) (case patients) with 38 patients who had only 1 episode of cdad (control patients). the mean age of patients was 81.6 +/- 7.2 y (range 64-95 y). all cases with cdad were receiving antibiotic therap ... | 2002 | 12238576 |
| fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolases in amitochondriate protists constitute a single protein subfamily with eubacterial relationships. | sequences of putative fructose-1,6-bisphospate aldolases (fba) in five amitochondriate unicellular eukaryotes, the diplomonads giardia intestinalis (published earlier) and spironucleus barkhanus, the pelobiont mastigamoeba balamuthi,the entamoebid entamoeba histolytica, and the parabasalid trichomonas vaginalis all belong to class ii of fbas and are highly similar to each other (>48% amino acid identity). the five protist sequences, however, do not form a monophyletic group. diplomonad fbas shar ... | 2002 | 12242011 |
| [pcr cloning of 3'-terminal repeat fragments of clostridium difficile toxin a and toxin b gene]. | to explore a method to rapidly detect the presence of clostridium difficile. | 2002 | 12297432 |
| genotypic and phenotypic characterization of clostridium perfringens and clostridium difficile in diarrheic and healthy dogs. | the objectives of this study were to examine the potential roles of clostridium difficile and enterotoxigenic clostridium perfringens in diarrhea in dogs by comparison of isolation, determination of toxin status via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa), and application of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (pcr). these techniques were used to evaluate fecal specimens in 132 healthy and diarrheic dogs. these dogs were prospectively evaluated by grouping them into the following 3 categories: ... | 2002 | 12322702 |
| prevent the sread of clostridium difficile. | 2002 | 12360910 | |
| clostridium difficile colitis: an increasingly aggressive iatrogenic disease? | the diagnosis of clostridium difficile colitis is increasing in frequency, with worsening patient outcomes. | 2002 | 12361411 |
| rescue of auditory hair cells from aminoglycoside toxicity by clostridium difficile toxin b, an inhibitor of the small gtpases rho/rac/cdc42. | the hair cells (hcs) are the most vulnerable elements in the cochlea and damage to them is the most common cause of sensorineural hearing loss. understanding the intracellular events that lead to the death of hcs is a key to developing protective strategies. recently, it has been shown that the c-jun-n-terminal kinase (jnk) pathway is activated in hcs in response to aminoglycosides (j. neurosci. 20 (2000) 43). we have studied the upstream events leading to jnk activation in aminoglycoside toxici ... | 2002 | 12361869 |
| vancomycin-resistant enterococcal colonisation of hospitalised patients in auckland. | to assess the prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal colonisation of hospitalised patients in five selected auckland hospitals. | 2002 | 12362202 |
| environmental response and autoregulation of clostridium difficile txer, a sigma factor for toxin gene expression. | txer, a sigma factor that directs clostridium difficile rna polymerase to recognize the promoters of two major toxin genes, was shown to stimulate its own synthesis. whether expressed in c. difficile, clostridium perfringens, or escherichia coli, txer stimulated transcription of fusions of the txer promoter region to reporter genes. as is the case for the tox genes, txer expression was responsive to the cellular growth phase and the constituents of the medium. that is, the level of expression in ... | 2002 | 12374831 |
| rho family small gtpases control migration of hematopoietic progenitor cells into multicellular spheroids of bone marrow stroma cells. | seeding of hematopoietic progenitor cells (hpc) into the bone marrow requires a complex interaction between cell membrane and adhesion systems and cell signaling pathways. we established a multicellular, spheroid coculture model to study hpc migration in a three-dimensional stromal environment. here, entry of primary cd34(+) cells into stroma cell spheroids was independent of the integrins very late antigen (vla)-4, vla-5, lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1, and the chemokine receptor cxcr ... | 2002 | 12377954 |
| rarity of toxigenic clostridium difficile infections after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: implications for symptomatic management of diarrhea. | diarrhea is a common complication of high-dose chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (hsct). the frequent and prolonged use of multiple antibiotics in this setting can predispose to infection with toxigenic clostridium difficile and the development of pseudomembranous colitis. anti-motility agents are usually not administered in this setting until c. difficile infection has been excluded. the objective of this study was to determine the incidence of c. difficile toxin (cdt) po ... | 2002 | 12379891 |
| enteropathogens associated with acute diarrhea in community and hospital patients in jakarta, indonesia. | the prevalence of bacteria, parasite and viral pathogens in 3875 patients with diarrhea in community and hospital settings from march 1997 through august 1999 in jakarta, indonesia was determined using routine bacteriology and molecular assay techniques. bacterial pathogens isolated from hospital patients were, in decreasing frequency, vibrio cholerae o1, shigella flexneri, salmonella spp. and campylobacter jejuni, while s. flexneri, v. cholerae o1, salmonella spp. and c. jejuni were isolated fr ... | 2002 | 12381465 |
| structural microdomains in the lateral plasma membrane of cochlear outer hair cells. | the basal and lateral regions of the plasma membrane of cochlear outer hair cells are structurally and functionally distinct. the lateral region contains thousands of motor proteins but few voltage-gated channels. the basal region, conversely, contains a high number of voltage-gated channels but is devoid of motor proteins. it has been suggested that the cortical cytoskeleton is responsible for maintaining this regional distinction. toward elucidating the structure of the outer hair cell's elect ... | 2002 | 12382104 |
| the icest1 element of streptococcus thermophilus belongs to a large family of integrative and conjugative elements that exchange modules and change their specificity of integration. | the 34,734-bp element icest1 from streptococcus thermophilus cnrz368 is site-specifically integrated into the 3(') end of the gene fda. icest1 encodes integrative functions and putative transfer functions. six proteins of the putative conjugative system of icest1 are related to those encoded by the conjugative transposon tn916 from enterococcus faecalis. a comparison of these proteins with those encoded by the complete or partial genome sequences of various low g+c bacteria including bacillus su ... | 2002 | 12383726 |
| gyra and gyrb mutations are implicated in cross-resistance to ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin in clostridium difficile. | a total of 198 nonrepetitive clinical strains of clostridium difficile isolated from different french hospitals in 1991 (n = 100) and 1997 (n = 98) were screened for decreased susceptibility to fluoroquinolones by plating onto wilkins-chalgren agar containing 16 micro g of ciprofloxacin per ml. the frequency of decreased susceptibility was 7% (14 of 198) and was identical for the years 1991 and 1997. serogroups c, h, d, a9, and k accounted for five, four, two, one, and one of the resistant strai ... | 2002 | 12384345 |
| in vitro activities of faropenem against 579 strains of anaerobic bacteria. | the activity of faropenem, a new oral penem, was tested against 579 strains of anaerobic bacteria by using the nccls-approved reference method. drugs tested included amoxicillin-clavulanate, cefoxitin, clindamycin, faropenem, imipenem, and metronidazole. of the 176 strains of bacteroides fragilis group isolates tested, two isolates had faropenem mics of 64 micro g/ml and imipenem mics of >32 micro g/ml. faropenem had an mic of 16 micro g/ml for an additional isolate of b. fragilis; this strain w ... | 2002 | 12384389 |
| in vitro activity of 15 antimicrobial agents against clinical isolates of clostridium difficile in kuwait. | a total of 73 clinical isolates of clostridium difficile isolated from stool/rectal swabs of patients admitted to the intensive care units at mubarak hospital, ibn sina hospital burn unit and haematology wards at the kuwait cancer control centre, were investigated for their susceptibility to 15 antibiotics using the etest. amoxycillin-clavulanic acid, ampicillin, meropenem, metronidazole, penicillin, piperacillin, piperacillin/tazobactam, teicoplanin and vancomycin had excellent activities with ... | 2002 | 12385683 |
| the spectrum of pseudomembranous enterocolitis and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. | pseudomembranous (entero)colitis is primarily caused by clostridium difficile infection. the most common predisposing factor is prior use of antibiotics, including vancomycin and metronidazole, which themselves are therapy for c difficile colitis. other risk factors have also been described. the presence of c difficile in the gastrointestinal tract leads to a spectrum of manifestations from the asymptomatic carrier state to fulminant colitis. successful treatment of c difficile colitis requires ... | 2002 | 12390059 |
| health and economic outcomes of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. | the health and economic impact of vancomycin-resistant enterococci has not been quantified. | 2002 | 12390066 |
| activation of rac, cdc42 and other downstream signalling molecules by bartonella bacilliformis during entry into human endothelial cells. | bartonella bacilliformis is an intracellular bacterial pathogen of human endothelial cells. in vitro incubation of b. bacilliformis with human endothelial cells leads to the formation of filamentous actin extensions (filopodia) within 30 min, followed by formation of membrane rufflings or lamellipodia within 1 h of incubation. by immunofluorescence, f-actin phalloidin staining and anti-rac antibodies were shown to co-localize in the membrane rufflings, indicating the recruitment of activated rac ... | 2002 | 12390349 |
| adhesiveness of human uterine epithelial rl95-2 cells to trophoblast: rho protein regulation. | embryo implantation involves adhesion of trophoblast cells to the epithelial lining of the endometrium. using an in-vitro model to simulate this initial interaction, we previously reported that attachment of human trophoblast-like jar spheroids to human uterine epithelial rl95-2 cells provokes a ca(2+) influx in rl95-2 cells depending on apically localized integrin receptors. here, we demonstrate that adhesiveness of rl95-2 cells for jar spheroids, measured by a centrifugal force-based adhesion ... | 2002 | 12397214 |