Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| c difficile induced pneumatosis intestinalis in a neutropenic child. | 2002 | 12089138 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| clostridium difficile diarrhea on a burn unit. | 2002 | 12052382 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| nitazoxanide as a broad-spectrum antiparasitic agent. | 2002 | 12023782 | |
| 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 |
| variable flagella expression among clonal toxin a-/b+clostridium difficile strains with highly homogeneous flagellin genes. | 2002 | 12010175 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| [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 |
| 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 |
| [epidemiology. epidemics of clostridium difficile in geriatrics]. | 2001 | 11992965 | |
| 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 |
| case of the month. pseudomembranous colitis. | 2002 | 11990652 | |
| changes in predominant bacterial populations in human faeces with age and with clostridium difficile infection. | the bacterial composition of human faeces can vary greatly with factors such as age and disease, although relatively few studies have monitored these events, particularly at species level. in this investigation, bacteria were isolated from faecal samples from healthy young adults and elderly subjects, and elderly patients with clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (cdad). the organisms were identified to species level on the basis of their cellular fatty acid profiles with the midi system. ... | 2002 | 11990498 |
| neutropenic enterocolitis (typhlitis) after pediatric bone marrow transplant. | neutropenic enterocolitis (typhlitis) is a common consideration after bone marrow transplantation. this study reviews the authors' experience with abdominal pain and typhlitis in an active pediatric bone marrow transplant program. | 2002 | 11987097 |
| pneumatosis intestinalis after pediatric thoracic organ transplantation. | to review and describe pneumatosis intestinalis (pi) in children who have undergone thoracic organ transplantation and evaluate potential risk factors. | 2002 | 11986484 |
| nonfunctional gut? try a probiotic food. | this month's nutrition column discusses the problem of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. the overgrowth of the "good" bacteria, clostridium difficile, can cause severe abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea. this article examines the benefits of including probiotics in a meal plan when the use of antibiotics is medically indicated. | 2001 | 11982180 |
| etiology of diarrhea in patients undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in south india. | no studies so far have examined enteric infections in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation (bmt) in developing countries where asymptomatic carriage and colonization with enteric pathogens is frequent. | 2002 | 11981416 |
| nadph oxidase mediates tissue factor-dependent surface procoagulant activity by thrombin in human vascular smooth muscle cells. | tissue factor (tf) initiates the extrinsic coagulation cascade leading to thrombin formation. thrombin induces tf mrna in vascular smooth muscle cells (vsmcs), thereby contributing to the prolonged procoagulant activity and enhanced thrombogenicity at sites of vascular injury. however, the signaling mechanisms mediating this thrombogenic cycle are unclear. characteristically, vascular injury promotes the generation of reactive oxygen species (ros). because ros exert signaling functions, we inves ... | 2002 | 11980681 |
| high-density microarray of small-subunit ribosomal dna probes. | ribosomal dna sequence analysis, originally conceived as a way to provide a universal phylogeny for life forms, has proven useful in many areas of biological research. some of the most promising applications of this approach are presently limited by the rate at which sequences can be analyzed. as a step toward overcoming this limitation, we have investigated the use of photolithography chip technology to perform sequence analyses on amplified small-subunit rrna genes. the genechip (affymetrix co ... | 2002 | 11976131 |
| abdominal infections in patients with acute leukaemia: a prospective study applying ultrasonography and microbiology. | a prospective study of 62 chemotherapy-induced neutropenic episodes in patients with acute leukaemia was conducted to determine the incidence and causes of abdominal infections, and to assess the diagnostic value of the combined use of ultrasonography (us) and microbiology. each patient underwent us of liver, gallbladder and complete bowel before chemotherapy, on days 2-4 after the end of chemotherapy and in cases of fever, diarrhoea or abdominal pain. us was combined with a standardized clinica ... | 2002 | 11972517 |
| molecular characterization of phenyllactate dehydratase and its initiator from clostridium sporogenes. | the heterotrimeric phenyllactate dehydratase from clostridium sporogenes, fldabc, catalyses the reversible dehydration of (r)-phenyllactate to (e)-cinnamate in two steps: (i) coa-transfer from the cofactor cinnamoyl-coa to phenyllactate to yield phenyllactyl-coa and the product cinnamate mediated by flda, a (r)-phenyllactate coa-transferase; followed by (ii) dehydration of phenyllactyl-coa to cinnamoyl-coa mediated by heterodimeric fldbc, a phenyllactyl-coa dehydratase. phenyllactate dehydratase ... | 2002 | 11967068 |
| diagnostic tests for healthcare epidemiology. | diagnostic tests are important tools for surveillance in healthcare epidemiology. recent studies regarding the use of diagnostic tests for detecting the following epidemiologically important conditions or pathogens are reviewed: vancomycin-resistant enterococci, legionella, influenza, ventilator-associated pneumonia, clostridium difficile, bloodstream infection, and tuberculosis. | 2001 | 11964863 |
| non-antibiotic therapy for clostridium difficile infection. | treatment of clostridium difficile infection with metronidazole or vancomycin is successful in the majority of cases, but relapse occurs in 15% to 20% of patients, and in some the infection can remain chronic for months or years. the use of non-antibiotic therapies for this infection is theoretically attractive, as they would enable the normal colonic microflora to be reconstituted which is a requirement for permanent eradication of this pathogen. over the past decade a number of non-antibiotic ... | 2000 | 11964789 |
| recurrent pseudomembranous colitis as a cause of recurrent severe sepsis. | clostridium difficile (c. difficile) colitis accounts for nearly 15-20 % of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. manifestations include asymptomatic carriage, self-limited diarrhea, and pseudomembranous colitis, which is sometimes life-threatening. despite effective therapy with metronidazole and vancomycin relapse rates are 15-33 %. although colitis is seen in critically ill patients treated with combinations of broad-spectrum antibiotics, reports describing severe sepsis as a result of c. difficile ... | 2002 | 11961735 |
| in vitro activity of linezolid against clostridium difficile. | we examined the in vitro activity of linezolid against clostridium difficile, including isolates with reduced susceptibility to metronidazole or vancomycin. the mic at which 50% of the isolates were inhibited (mic50) and mic90 were 0.5 and 2 microg/ml, respectively (range, 0.03 to 4 microg/ml). mics were always <or= 4 microg/ml, and thus, all isolates were considered susceptible. | 2002 | 11959617 |
| effect of changes in surgical practice on the rate and detection of nosocomial infections: a prospective analysis. | the practice of surgery is being performed increasingly on an outpatient basis. how these changes have influenced the nosocomial infection rate and the ability of standard, center for disease control (cdc)-designed surveillance techniques to detect these infections is unknown. the goal of this study was to determine whether recent changes in surgical care have led to an increased nosocomial infection rate based on number of discharges and whether current surveillance techniques are adequate to d ... | 2002 | 11954823 |
| colorectal disease in liver allograft recipients -- a clinicopathological study with follow-up. | to determine the spectrum and outcome of colorectal diseases occurring in adult liver allograft recipients. | 2002 | 11953686 |
| emergence of cotrimoxazole- and quinolone-resistant campylobacter infections in bone marrow transplant recipients. | clinical and microbiological data were collected prospectively from 704 patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation (bmt) during an 11-year period (1991-2001), and the first two cases of campylobacter infection occurring in bmt recipients in the pre-engraftment period were identified. the two cases occurred on days 2 and 3 post-bmt, respectively. both patients had campylobacter jejuni enteritis, and one case was complicated by bacteraemia. in both cases the presenting symptoms were indist ... | 2002 | 11939393 |
| binding of clostridium difficile to caco-2 epithelial cell line and to extracellular matrix proteins. | adhesion of clostridium difficile to caco-2 was examined as a function of monolayers polarization and differentiation. the number of adherent c. difficile c253 bacteria per cell strongly decreased when postconfluent 15-day-old monolayers were used (1.7 bacteria per cell versus 17.3 with 3-day-old monolayers). following disruption of intercellular junctions by ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-n,n,n',n',-tetraacetic acid, a significant rise in the level of bacterial adhesion was observed ... | 2002 | 11934566 |
| morbidity, mortality, and healthcare burden of nosocomial clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in canadian hospitals. | to assess the healthcare burden, morbidity, and mortality of nosocomial clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (n-cdad) in canadian hospitals. | 2002 | 11918118 |
| e test susceptibility testing of nosocomial clostridium difficile isolates against metronidazole, vancomycin, fusidic acid and the novel agents moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, and linezolid. | 2002 | 11913510 | |
| incidence of pseudomembranous colitis after vancomycin-treated mrsa infection. | 2002 | 11913373 | |
| clostridium difficile toxin a triggers human colonocyte il-8 release via mitochondrial oxygen radical generation. | clostridium difficile toxin a causes mitochondrial dysfunction resulting in generation of oxygen radicals and adenosine triphosphate (atp) depletion. we investigated whether mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in nuclear factor kappab (nf-kappab) activation and interleukin (il)-8 release from toxin a-exposed enterocytes. | 2002 | 11910356 |
| molecular typing methods for the epidemiological identification of clostridium difficile strains. | toxigenic clostridium difficile is the etiologic agent of c. difficile-associated diarrhea (cdad), the most common cause of nosocomial diarrhea. cross-infection between patients and transmission through the environment and medical personnel are important factors in the acquisition of cdad. in order to understand differences in epidemiology and pathogenesis, a number of typing schemes have been developed. we will review the typing methods used to study the epidemiology of c. difficile infections ... | 2001 | 11901801 |
| [probiotics in gastroenterology]. | probiotics are defined as live microorganisms of human origin. their use may favorably influence human health and ameliorate or prevent certain diseases. prebiotics are non-digestible foodstuffs (fiber, oligofructans - "colonic foods"), which enter the colon and are metabolized by the probiotics. probiotics should fulfill the following criteria: phenotypic and genotypic classification, no pathogenic properties, human origin, application in the living state, resistance to gastric acid and bile, a ... | 2002 | 11901455 |
| phylogenetic analysis and pcr detection of clostridium chauvoei, clostridium haemolyticum, clostridium novyi types a and b, and clostridium septicum based on the flagellin gene. | the flagellin genes (flic) of clostridium chauvoei, clostridium haemolyticum, clostridium novyi types a and b, and clostridium septicum were analysed by pcr amplification and dna sequencing. the five clostridium species have at least two copies of the flagellin gene (flic) arranged in tandem on the chromosome. the deduced n- and c-terminal aminoacid sequences of the flagellin proteins (flics) of these clostridia are well conserved but their central region aminoacid sequences are not. phylogenic ... | 2002 | 11900959 |
| clostridium difficile infection associated with levofloxacin treatment. | nine cases of clostridium difficile (cd) infection were observed in the period of six months at a nursing home. eight of them occurred during or after antibiotic treatment. levofloxacin was used alone in three cases and in combination with another antibiotic in three other cases. cd infection occurred with other antibiotics in two cases. in one case, cd infection occurred without any antibiotic treatment. it is generally accepted that quinolones rarely cause cd infection. levofloxacin, a new ant ... | 2002 | 11898264 |
| comparative in vitro activities of ertapenem (mk-0826) against 469 less frequently identified anaerobes isolated from human infections. | we studied the in vitro activity of ertapenem against 469 less frequently identified anaerobes from 11 genera and 52 species isolated from human infections. ertapenem was uniformly active against 460 of 469 (98%) strains at concentrations of < or = 4 microg/ml. only 4 of 14 clostridium difficile, 1 of 11 clostridium innocuum, and 4 of 6 lactobacillus sp. strains required ertapenem concentrations of > or = 8 microg/ml for inhibition. | 2002 | 11897608 |
| mechanism of lovastatin-induced apoptosis in intestinal epithelial cells. | we earlier showed that lovastatin potentiated the chemopreventive effects of sulindac against colon neoplasia in a rodent model and augments apoptosis induced by 5-fu and cisplatin in human colon cancer cells. in the present study, we investigated effects of lovastatin in spontaneously immortalized rat intestinal epithelial cells, iec-18 and their k-ras transformed clones. lovastatin induced morphologic changes (cell rounding and detachment) and apoptosis that were not influenced by k-ras mutati ... | 2002 | 11895868 |
| gastrointestinal: clostridium difficile colitis. | 2002 | 11895561 | |
| [what measures are necessary in the demonstration of clostridium difficile toxin?]. | 2002 | 11894182 | |
| severe clostridium difficile colitis: the role of intracolonic vancomycin? | 2002 | 11893379 | |
| characterization of clostridium perfringens strains isolated from polish patients with suspected antibiotic-associated diarrhea. | the aim of our research was to investigate the role of enterotoxin- producing anaerobic bacteria other than clostridium difficile in the etiology of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. this article presents data related to c. perfringens. | 2002 | 11887023 |
| [clostridium difficile infection]. | clostridium difficile is an anaerobic species consisting of bacilli with large, oval, subterminal spores, normally found in intestines. it uses two toxins, which produce cytopathic changes in the intestinal mucosae, causing diarrhea. patients can present a spectrum of disease that varies from uncomplicated antibiotic-associated diarrhea to life threatening antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis. c. difficile is the only species. there are no defined sterotypes. toxigenic and nontox ... | 2002 | 11885130 |
| microvilli-like structures are associated with the internalization of virulent capsulated neisseria meningitidis into vascular endothelial cells. | bacterial pathogens are internalized into non-phagocytic cells either by a zipper mechanism involving a direct contact between a bacterial ligand and a cellular receptor or a trigger mechanism secondary to the formation of membrane ruffles. here we show that internalization of capsulated neisseria meningitidis within endothelial cells following type iv pilus-mediated adhesion is associated with the formation of cellular protrusions at the site of bacterial attachment. these protrusions, like mic ... | 2002 | 11884522 |
| the cdc42 and rac1 gtpases are required for capillary lumen formation in three-dimensional extracellular matrices. | here we show a requirement for the cdc42 and rac1 gtpases in endothelial cell (ec) morphogenesis in three-dimensional extracellular matrices. cdc42 and rac1 specifically regulate ec intracellular vacuole and lumen formation in both collagen and fibrin matrices. clostridium difficile toxin b (which blocks all three rho gtpases) completely inhibited the ability of ecs to form both vacuoles and lumens, whereas c3 transferase, a selective inhibitor of rho, did not. expression of either dominant-nega ... | 2002 | 11884513 |
| fulminant clostridium difficile: an underappreciated and increasing cause of death and complications. | to review the epidemiology and characteristics of patients who died or underwent colectomy secondary to fulminant clostridium difficile colitis. | 2002 | 11882758 |
| genetic deficiency in the chemokine receptor ccr1 protects against acute clostridium difficile toxin a enteritis in mice. | the role of the cc chemokine receptor (ccr) 1 in acute enteritis was investigated by subjecting ccr1 knockout mice to clostridium difficile toxin a treatment. | 2002 | 11875005 |
| ecological effects of linezolid versus amoxicillin/clavulanic acid on the normal intestinal microflora. | twelve healthy subjects (6 females, 6 males; age range 18-40 y) participated in this trial. linezolid was given as 600 mg tablets b.i.d. for 7 d and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid as 1000 mg tablets o.d. for 7 d. the washout period between the administration of the 2 antibacterial agents was 4 weeks. faecal samples were collected prior to administration (days -2 and -1), during administration (days 4 and 8) and after administration (days 14, 21 and 35) for microbiological analyses. the samples were ... | 2001 | 11868762 |
| toxin a detection on clostridium difficile colonies from 24-h cultures. | objective: performance of a combined approach for the detection of toxigenic strains in patients suspected of having clostridium difficile-associated disease was evaluated. methods: in this approach, stools were cultured for 24 h on a selective medium supplemented with sodium taurocholate (tccfa), in anaerobic conditions created with the martreg anoxomat system, and toxin a detection was performed directly on c. difficile colonies, by enzyme immunoassay (eia). this method was compared with three ... | 1996 | 11866811 |
| antianaerobic activity of a cecropin---melittin peptide. | objective: several small, 15-residue peptides that contain portions of the amino acid sequences of both cecropin a and melittin have previously been shown to have broad-spectrum antibacterial activities against aerobic microorganisms, with no undesirable hemolytic properties. it would also be useful to know what effect these hybrid peptides have on anaerobic bacteria. methods: the minimum inhibitory concentrations of one hybrid, ca(1--7)m(2--9)nh2, were compared with those of seven other antimic ... | 1998 | 11864323 |
| rapid detection of clostridium difficile toxin a in stool specimens. | objective: to evaluate a rapid (15-min) enzyme immunoassay in the format of an individual cassette (immunocard toxin a, meridian, bmd, marne-la-vallée, france) for the detection of clostridium difficile toxin a in stool specimens. methods: we compared this new test with the cytotoxicity assay using mrc-5 cells, the toxa test (techlab, biowhittaker, fontenay-sous-bois, france) and toxigenic culture for the diagnosis of c. difficile-associated diseases (cdad). a total of 236 stool specimens collec ... | 1997 | 11864160 |
| clostridium difficile toxin a detection on colonies. | 1997 | 11864144 | |
| clostridium difficile toxin a detection on colonies. | 1997 | 11864143 | |
| rapid detection of toxigenic clostridium difficile strains by a nested pcr of the toxin b gene. | 1997 | 11864096 | |
| oral supplementation with lactic acid-producing bacteria during intake of clindamycin. | objective: to study the effect of administration of clindamycin with or without supplementation of the intestinal microflora with bifidobacterium bifidum and lactobacillus acidophilus. methods: twenty-three healthy subjects received clindamycin by mouth for 7 days. eleven of the subjects also received capsules containing lyophilized l. acidophilus and b. bifidum for 14 days. the other 12 subjects received placebo. results: there was a marked decrease in total numbers of anaerobic bacteria during ... | 1997 | 11864087 |
| clindamycin resistant strains of clostridium difficile isolated from cases of c. difficile associated diarrhea (cdad) in a hospital in sweden. | fifty three strains of c. difficile recovered from the stools of 13 patients with clinical c. difficile associated diarrhea (cdad) were analyzed for the presence of the ermb gene, for toxigenicity and fingerprinting profile by pcr based assays. forty five percent of the isolates were resistant to clindamycin and positive for the ermb gene. all clindamycin resistant isolates were ermb positive and belonged to the same fingerprinting group, suggesting clonal spread. these preliminary results sugge ... | 2002 | 11858913 |
| [5-fluorouracil-induced colitis--a review based upon consideration of 6 cases]. | at increasing use of high-dose 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal and gastric cancer complicated drug-induced colitis is observed more frequently. from may 1998 to november 2000 we observed 6 cases of 5-fluorouracil-induced colitis, in which we looked for involvement of small intestine. we report summing up on the 6 cases including both endoscopic and histological findings in both sites of the gut. | 2002 | 11857099 |
| should all stool specimens be routinely tested for clostridium difficile? | objective: to determine the frequency with which clostridium difficile was detected in stool specimens from outpatients and patients hospitalized for less than 4 days to assess the usefulness of routine laboratory screening for detecting this enteric pathogen. methods: seven hundred and forty-one specimens from 398 patients were cultured over a 6-month period for salmonella, shigella, yersinia, escherichia coli o157:h7, campylobacter and clostridium difficile. clostridium difficile culture-posit ... | 1999 | 11856253 |
| [resistance problems in gastrointestinal infections]. | a variety of world-wide resistance problems in bacterial gastrointestinal pathogens have emerged within the last decade. particularly, antibiotics used to treat salmonella, campylobacter and helicobacter pylori have lost their efficacy in a high proportion of isolates. of major clinical significance is the resistance of h. pylori to metronidazole and clarithromycin, of campylobacter spp. to fluoroquinolones and macrolides and of salmonella spp. to fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalospo ... | 2002 | 11851045 |
| rho and rho kinase modulation of barrier properties: cultured endothelial cells and intact microvessels of rats and mice. | previous experiments using cultured endothelial monolayers indicate that rho-family small gtpases are involved in modulation of endothelial monolayer permeability by regulating assembly of the cellular actin filament scaffold, activity of myosin-based contractility and junctional distribution of the ca2+-dependent endothelial cell adhesion molecule, ve-cadherin. we investigated these mechanisms using both cultured endothelial cells (from porcine pulmonary artery and mouse heart) and vascular end ... | 2002 | 11850521 |
| interaction of the rho-adp-ribosylating c3 exoenzyme with rala. | rhoa, -b, and -c are adp-ribosylated and biologically inactivated by clostridium botulinum c3 exoenzyme and related c3-like transferases. we report that rala gtpase, which is not adp-ribosylated by c3, inhibits adp-ribosylation of rhoa by c3 from c. botulinum (c3bot), clostridium limosum (c3lim), and bacillus cereus (c3cer) but not from staphylococcus aureus (c3stau) in human platelet membranes and rat brain lysate. inhibition by rala occurs with the gdp- and guanosine 5'-3-o-(thio)triphosphate- ... | 2002 | 11847234 |
| severe antibiotic-associated colitis in a patient with cystic fibrosis and colonic wall thickening. | 2002 | 11840045 | |
| epidemiology of clostridium difficile infection in a large population of hospitalized us military veterans. | the patient treatment file (ptf) of the department of veterans affairs (va) comprises the computerized records of all inpatients treated at all va hospitals throughout the united states. the database was utilized to study the clinical epidemiology and impact of c. difficile colitis on health care among hospitalized us military veterans. the computerized medical records of 15,091 cases with c. difficile colitis and 61,931 controls without the diagnosis were extracted from the annual files between ... | 2002 | 11837725 |
| the mushroom marasmius oreades lectin is a blood group type b agglutinin that recognizes the galalpha 1,3gal and galalpha 1,3galbeta 1,4glcnac porcine xenotransplantation epitopes with high affinity. | a blood group b-specific lectin from the mushroom marasmius oreades (moa) was investigated with respect to its molecular structure and carbohydrate binding properties. sds-page mass spectrometric analysis showed it to consist of an intact (h; 33 kda) and truncated (l; 23 kda) subunit in addition to a small polypeptide (p; 10 kda). isolation in the presence of edta produced only the h subunits, indicating that the latter two are formed by metalloprotease cleavage of the intact h subunit. tryptic ... | 2002 | 11836253 |
| marketing hand hygiene in hospitals--a case study. | hand hygiene of healthcare workers is frequently poor despite the efforts of infection control teams to promote hand decontamination as the most important method to prevent transmission of hospital-acquired infections. in this case study, we describe how principles of societal marketing were applied to improve hand hygiene. pre-marketing analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to implementation; attention to product, price, promotion and placement; and post-marketing 'custom ... | 2002 | 11825051 |
| clostridium difficile infection in patients with neutropenia. | 2002 | 11823965 | |
| clinical practice. antibiotic-associated diarrhea. | 2002 | 11821511 | |
| images in clinical medicine. clostridium difficile colitis. | 2002 | 11821510 | |
| co-morbidity, not age predicts adverse outcome in clostridium difficile colitis. | aim:to examine whether age alone or co-morbidity is a risk factor for death in older adults who developed clostridium difficile (cd) colitis during hospitalization.methods:a retrospective, observational study design was performed in our lady of mercy medical center,a 650-bed, urban, community-based, university-affiliated teaching hospital. 121 patients with a positive diagnosis of cd colitis (aged 23-97 years) were studied, and data pertinent to demographic variables, medical history, co-morbidi ... | 2000 | 11819556 |
| successful treatment of a colonic adenocarcinoma in a horse. | 2002 | 11817546 | |
| preferential initiation of pc12 neurites in directions of changing substrate adhesivity. | when pc12 cells are grown on substrates showing a gradient of nonspecific adhesion, they preferentially initiate neurites in directions of changing adhesivity, whether that change is in the direction of increasing or decreasing adhesivity. this preference for changing adhesivity is ablated both by c. difficile toxin a, which inhibits all rho-family gtpases, and by c. botulinum c3 exoenzyme, which specifically inhibits rho. | 2002 | 11813236 |
| linkage between toxin production and purine biosynthesis in clostridium difficile. | the production of toxins a and b by clostridium difficile was greatly enhanced under biotin-limited conditions, in which a 140-kda protein was expressed strongly. gene cloning revealed that this protein was a homologue of formylglycinamidine ribonucleotide synthetase (fgam synthetase, ec 6.3.5.3), which is known as purl in escherichia coli and catalyses the fourth step of the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway. this enzyme consisted of a single polypeptide, although fgam synthetases of gram-pos ... | 2002 | 11800470 |
| evaluation of commercially available rapid assays: a manufacturer's perspective. | 2001 | 11797611 | |
| osmotic stress activates rac and cdc42 in neutrophils: role in hypertonicity-induced actin polymerization. | hypertonicity inhibits a variety of neutrophil functions through poorly defined mechanisms. our earlier studies suggest that osmotically induced actin polymerization and cytoskeleton remodeling is a key component in the hypertonic block of exocytosis and cell movement. to gain insight into the signaling mechanisms underlying the hyperosmotic f-actin response, we investigated whether hypertonicity stimulates rac and cdc42 and, if so, whether their activation contributes to the hypertonic rise in ... | 2002 | 11788338 |
| [clostridium difficile bacteremia]. | extra-digestive manifestations of clostridium difficile infection are very uncommon. exceptional cases of c. difficile bacteremia or severe sepsis have been described in intensive care patients, demonstrating the capacity of this agent to generate generalized infection. | 2001 | 11776702 |
| health care costs and mortality associated with nosocomial diarrhea due to clostridium difficile. | a total of 271 patients were prospectively followed up to determine whether patients whose hospital stay is complicated by diarrhea due to clostridium difficile experience differences in cost and length of stay and survival rates when compared with patients whose stay is not complicated by c. difficile-associated diarrhea. forty patients (15%) developed nosocomial c. difficile-associated diarrhea. these patients incurred adjusted hospital costs of $3669--that is, 54% (95% confidence interval [ci ... | 2002 | 11774082 |