Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| hormone-stimulated calcium release is inhibited by cytoskeleton-disrupting toxins in ar4-2j cells. | we have studied the role of the actin cytoskeleton in bombesin-induced inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (ip(3))-production and ca(2+)release in the pancreatic acinar tumour cell line ar4-2j. intracellular and extracellular free ca(2+)concentrations were measured in cell suspensions, using fura-2. disruption of the actin cytoskeleton by pretreatment of the cells with latrunculin b (10 microm), cytochalasin d (10 microm) or toxin b from clostridium difficile (20 ng/ml) for 5-29 h led to inhibition of ... | 2000 | 10970764 |
| phenotypic and genotypic diversity of the flagellin gene (flic) among clostridium difficile isolates from different serogroups. | phenotypic and genotypic diversity of the flagellin gene (flic) of clostridium difficile was studied in 47 isolates from various origins belonging to the serogroups a, b, c, d, f, g, h, i, k, x, and s3. electron microscopy revealed 17 nonflagellated strains and 30 flagellated strains. pcr and reverse transcription-pcr demonstrated that the flagellin gene was present in all strains and that the flic gene was expressed in both flagellated and nonflagellated strains. southern blotting showed the pr ... | 2000 | 10970353 |
| effect on the human normal microflora of oral antibiotics for treatment of urinary tract infections. | oral administration of antibiotics for treatment of urinary tract infections (utis) can cause ecological disturbances in the normal intestinal microflora. poorly absorbed drugs can reach the colon in active form, suppress susceptible microorganisms and disturb the ecological balance. suppression of the normal microflora may lead to reduced colonization resistance with subsequent overgrowth of pre-existing, naturally resistant microorganisms, such as yeasts and clostridium difficile. new coloniza ... | 2000 | 10969051 |
| infectious gastro-enteritis: an uncommon cause of diarrhoea in adult allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplant recipients. | the incidence and aetiology of acute diarrhoea in 60 adult allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplant (sct) recipients was determined in a prospective study. stool specimens were obtained prior to sct and on days +20, +40, +60 and +100 post transplant. microbiological evaluation was performed for pathogenic bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. forty-seven patients were evaluable of whom 31 had a total of 48 acute diarrhoeal episodes. diarrhoea occurred in 79% of allogeneic and 47% of autol ... | 2000 | 10967569 |
| toxic pseudomembranous colitis in a patient with ulcerative colitis. | toxic colitis is a severe disease that may be caused by several inflammatory and/or infectious diseases. ulcerative colitis is one of the most frequent causes of toxic colitis in the united states. toxic megacolon complicating clostridium difficile colitis is a rare occurrence with significant morbidity and mortality. case report: a 52-year-old male presented with rectal bleeding and tenesmus. he had been treated for amebiasis with metronidazole, and had improved. two weeks later, symptoms recur ... | 2000 | 10961591 |
| [pseudomembranous colitis caused by clostridium difficile]. | 2000 | 10958059 | |
| images in clinical medicine. pseudomembranous colitis. | 2000 | 10954764 | |
| in vitro and in vivo activities of nitazoxanide against clostridium difficile. | we have used the hamster model of antibiotic-induced clostridium difficile intestinal disease to evaluate nitazoxanide (ntz), a nitrothiazole benzamide antimicrobial agent. the following in vitro and in vivo activities of ntz in the adult hamster were examined and compared to those of metronidazole and vancomycin: (i) mics and minimum bactericidal concentrations (mbcs) against c. difficile, (ii) toxicity, (iii) ability to prevent c. difficile-associated ileocecitis, and (iv) propensity to induce ... | 2000 | 10952564 |
| re: probiotics and c difficile diarrhea. | 2000 | 10950076 | |
| usefulness of simultaneous detection of toxin a and glutamate dehydrogenase for the diagnosis of clostridium difficile-associated diseases. | the aim of this study was to evaluate an immunoassay (triage; biosite diagnostics, bmd, france) for detecting both a specific antigen of clostridium difficile (glutamate dehydrogenase [gdh]) and toxin a. evaluation of the test was carried out in 304 fecal samples from patients suspected of having clostridium difficile-associated diseases. the results with gdh and toxin a were compared with those of a culture and cytotoxicity assay (toxin b). the prevalence rates for toxin b-positive and culture- ... | 2000 | 10947228 |
| bacterial toxins modifying the actin cytoskeleton. | numerous bacterial toxins recognize the actin cytoskeleton as a target. the clostridial binary toxins (iota and c2 families) adp-ribosylate the actin monomers causing the dissociation of the actin filaments. the large clostridial toxins from clostridium difficile, clostridium sordellii and clostridium novyi inactivate, by glucosylation, proteins from the rho family that regulate actin polymerization. in contrast, the cytotoxic necrotic factor from escherichia coli activates rho by deamidation an ... | 1999 | 10943412 |
| rho gtpases as targets of bacterial protein toxins. | several bacterial toxins target rho gtpases, which constitute molecular switches in several signaling processes and master regulators of the actin cytoskeleton. the biological activities of rho gtpases are blocked by c3-like transferases, which adp-ribosylate rho at asn41, but not rac or cdc42. large clostridial cytotoxins (e. g., clostridium difficile toxin a and b) glucosylate rho gtpases at thr37 (rho) or thr35 (rac/cdc42), thereby inhibiting rho functions by preventing effector coupling. the ... | 2000 | 10937872 |
| [hyperbaric oxygen as an adjunctive treatment for descending necrotizing mediastinitis: report of a case]. | we report a case of 59-year-old man of descending necrotizing mediastinitis (dnm) secondary to peritonsillar abscess. a 59-year-old man with diabetes mellitus was admitted to a local hospital because of cervical swelling related to a peritonsillar abscess. despite administration of antibiotics, swelling of the neck, dysphagia and dyspnea deteriorated. therefore he was urgently undergone a tracheotomy and transferred to our hospital by an ambulance. the surgery consisted with neck and anterior me ... | 2000 | 10935394 |
| a chimeric ribozyme in clostridium difficile combines features of group i introns and insertion elements. | cdlst1, a dna insertion of 1975 bp, was identified within tcda-c34, the enterotoxin gene of the clostridium difficile isolate c34. located in the catalytic domain a1-c34, cd/st1 combines features of two genetic elements. within the first 434 nt structures characteristic for group i introns were found; encoding the two transposase-like proteins tlpa and tlpb nucleotides 435-1975 represent the remainder of a is605-like insertion element. we show that the entire cdlst1 is accurately spliced from tc ... | 2000 | 10931294 |
| control of cellular phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate levels by adhesion signals and rho gtpases in nih 3t3 fibroblasts involvement of both phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase and phospholipase c. | the involvement of small gtpases of the rho family in the control of phosphoinositide metabolism by adhesion signals was examined in nih 3t3 fibroblasts. abrogation of adhesion signals by detachment of cells from their substratum resulted in a time-dependent decrease in the cellular level of ptdins(4,5)p2 by approximately 50%. this effect could be mimicked by treatment of adherent cells with clostridium difficile toxin b and toxin b-1470, which inhibit specific subsets of rho and ras gtpases. de ... | 2000 | 10931209 |
| statistical process control geometric q-chart for nosocomial infection surveillance. | several authors have proposed the use of statistical process control charting methods for the surveillance of endemic rates of nosocomial infections. the principal goal of such a charting program is to recognize any increase of the endemic rate to an epidemic rate as soon as possible after the change occurs. however, many of the statistical process control charting methods that have been proposed are based on classical charting principles that are effective largely for processes for which suffic ... | 2000 | 10926710 |
| genetic characterization of toxin a-negative, toxin b-positive clostridium difficile isolates by pcr. | toxin-specific enzyme immunoassays, cytotoxicity assays, and pcr were used to analyze 48 toxin a-negative, toxin b-positive clostridium difficile isolates from various geographical sites around the world. all the isolates were negative by the tox-a test and positive by the tox a/b test. a deletion of approximately 1.7 kb was found at the 3' end of the toxa gene for all the isolates, similar to the deletion in toxinotype viii strains (e.g., c. difficile serotype f 1470). additional pcr analysis i ... | 2000 | 10921980 |
| survival of clostridium difficile and its toxins in equine feces: implications for diagnostic test selection and interpretation. | although clostridium difficile is recognized as a cause of enterocolitis in horses and humans, there has been little work published regarding the lability of c. difficile and its toxins in feces. a significant decrease in recovery of c. difficile from inoculated equine fecal samples occurred during storage. recovery after storage in air at 4 degrees c decreased from 76% (37/49) after 24 hours to 67% (33/49) at 48 hours and 29% (14/ 49) after 72 hours. in contrast to aerobic storage, 25 of 26 sam ... | 2000 | 10907862 |
| [evaluation of four rapid methods for the investigation of the toxigenic capacity of clostridium difficile strains isolated in a selective medium]. | use of selective clostridium difficile culture as a diagnostic method for c. difficile associated disease requires to prove the toxigenic ability of the isolates. toxin b detection by cell culture assay after growing the microorganism in enriched broth is the standard method, but it delays the final diagnosis for 3-5 days. this study compares retrospectively four rapid techniques for detecting these toxigenic c. difficile strains. | 2000 | 10905010 |
| [ultrasound diagnosis of penicillin-induced segmental hemorrhagic colitis]. | penicillin-induced segmental haemorrhagic colitis (shc) is a characteristic and striking but rarely diagnosed clinical entity. bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps start a few days after the intake of oral penicillin derivatives. we report the ultrasonographic and clinical findings in nine patients with shc and compare the results with the findings in ten patients with antibiotic-related pseudomembranous colitis (pmc). | 2000 | 10902513 |
| [ultrasound diagnosis of pseudomembranous colitis]. | the diagnosis of pseudomembranous colitis (pmc) is based on the history of exposure to antibiotics, characteristic endoscopic findings and on demonstrating the presence of clostridium difficile toxins in the faeces. this report presents typical sonographic features of pmc. | 2000 | 10902512 |
| respiratory antibiotic use and clostridium difficile infection: is it the drugs or is it the doctors? | 2000 | 10899237 | |
| rac is required for constitutive macropinocytosis by dendritic cells but does not control its downregulation. | dendritic cells use constitutive macropinocytosis to capture exogenous antigens for presentation on mhc molecules. upon exposure to inflammatory stimuli or bacterial products such as lipopolysaccharide (lps), macropinocytosis is dramatically downregulated as part of a developmental programme leading to dendritic cell maturation, migration and activation of t cells. it is not known, however, how macropinocytosis is sustained in dendritic cells in the absence of exogenous stimuli, nor how it is do ... | 2000 | 10899002 |
| contrasting incidence of clostridium difficile and other enteropathogens in aids patients in london and lusaka. | 2000 | 10897357 | |
| the rise of clostridium difficile: the effect of length of stay, patient age and antibiotic use. | hospitals in the uk have recently seen a marked increase in c. difficile for reasons which are unclear. reduced standards of hygiene, increasingly elderly patients, greater cephalosporin use and longer hospital stay have been suggested. we retrospectively studied all cases of c. difficile diarrhoea at princess margaret hospital, swindon, over two years. cephalosporins, patient age and los appeared unrelated to the rise in c. difficile; penicillins and macrolides were related. our policy of using ... | 2000 | 10896804 |
| clostridium difficile toxin a causes early damage to mitochondria in cultured cells. | the mechanism by which clostridium difficile toxin a causes actin depolymerization and cell rounding involves toxin internalization and subsequent monoglucosylation of the rho family of proteins. this study explored toxin internalization and effects on mitochondrial function before cell rounding. | 2000 | 10889163 |
| local antibiotic guidelines for adult community-acquired pneumonia (cap): a survey of uk hospital practice in 1999. | we investigated the guidelines in british hospitals for the management of adults admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (cap). a questionnaire was sent to one consultant respiratory physician in each of the 263 hospitals in the british thoracic society (bts) directory of training posts and services. two hundred and thirteen (81%) responses were received: 178 (84%) had written cap guidelines, of which 123 (69%) printed copies were received. for non-severe cap a single antibiotic (74% of guide ... | 2000 | 10882705 |
| [drug-induced enterocolitis. important differential diagnosis in the investigation of diarrhea and intestinal hemorrhage]. | this article is a review of the side-effects of drugs affecting the small and large intestines. pseudomembranous colitis is caused by antibiotics facilitating an overgrowth of clostridium difficile. a hemorrhagic colitis, generally self-limiting, can be caused by penicillin, amoxycillin and ampicillin. toxicity of nsaid may induce intestinal ulcers, diaphragm-like strictures, perforation, colitis and relapse of inflammatory bowel disease. drug-induced lymphocytic colitis has been reported due to ... | 2000 | 10881520 |
| rapidly progressive necrotizing fasciitis and gangrene due to clostridium difficile: case report. | a case of rapidly progressive necrotizing fascitis and gas gangrene due to clostridium difficile that responded very well to surgical intervention is described. | 2000 | 10880313 |
| persistence of an endemic (toxigenic) isolate of clostridium difficile in the environment of a general medicine ward. | the epidemiology of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (cdad) in an endemic setting was investigated by use of dna typing methods to determine the strain identity of c. difficile isolates. two predominant toxigenic clones were found in the environment and accounted for 29.8% (type 1) and 15.5% (type 2) of cdad cases, respectively. in endemic settings, the environment and cross-transmission may play a role in acquisition of cdad. | 2000 | 10880312 |
| pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of degradation-sensitive dnas from clostridium difficile pcr ribotype 1 strains. | 2000 | 10878091 | |
| characterization of a toxin a-negative, toxin b-positive strain of clostridium difficile responsible for a nosocomial outbreak of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. | clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (cad) is a very common nosocomial infection that contributes significantly to patient morbidity and mortality as well as to the cost of hospitalization. previously, strains of toxin a-negative, toxin b-positive c. difficile were not thought to be associated with clinically significant disease. this study reports the characterization of a toxin a-negative, toxin b-positive strain of c. difficile that was responsible for a recently described nosocomial out ... | 2000 | 10878068 |
| comparison of pcr-ribotyping, arbitrarily primed pcr, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for typing clostridium difficile. | clostridium difficile is now recognized as the major agent responsible for nosocomial diarrhea in adults. among the genotyping methods available, arbitrarily primed pcr (ap-pcr), pcr-ribotyping, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (pfge) have been widely used for investigating outbreaks of c. difficile infections. however, the comparative typing ability, reproducibility, discriminatory power, and efficiency of these methods have not been fully investigated. we compared the results of three meth ... | 2000 | 10878030 |
| ileal perforation caused by cytomegalovirus infection in a critically ill adult. | cytomegalovirus (cmv) infection of the gastrointestinal (gi) tract is common and is most often seen in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (aids), inflammatory bowel disease, or those receiving immunosuppressive therapy. cmv infection of the small bowel accounts for only 4.3% of all cmv infections of the gi tract. isolated cases of small bowel perforation due to cmv have been reported in aids patients, and all but one patient has died. this article reports the first case of an ileal ... | 2000 | 10875475 |
| modulation between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in the mutant cell line cdtr-q. | it has recently been shown that the cell line don q obtained by mutagenesis of wild type chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (don wt), presents a point mutation in the gene coding for udp-glucose pyrophosphorylase. the persistent low level of udp-glucose makes don q clone resistant to clostridium difficile toxin b. starting from the observation that don q cells exhibit many large hydrophobic cytoplasmic inclusions, that we have found to be made of neutral lipids, the aerobic metabolism of the two c ... | 1998 | 10874983 |
| clostridium difficile-associated diseases. the clinical courses of 18 fatal cases. | severe cases of clostridium difficile-associated diseases with sepsis seem to be rare, as are case reports about the pathogen involved and sepsis. our objective was to investigate the frequency and the clinical courses of severe cases of c. difficile-associated diseases with a fatal outcome in our hospital. | 2000 | 10872133 |
| toxic megacolon: diagnosis and treatment challenges. | in adults, toxic megacolon is a relatively uncommon but potentially lethal complication of inflammatory bowel disease (ibd), infectious colitis, or ischemic colitis caused by cancer chemotherapeutic agents. patients have distension of the colon and signs of toxicity such as elevated temperature, hypotension, decreased level of consciousness and electrolyte imbalances. factors thought to increase the risk include premature discontinuation of ibd medications; procedures that increase colon trauma, ... | 1999 | 10865533 |
| [isolation of toxigenic strains of clostridium difficile and enterotoxin producing bacteroides fragilis from fecal specimens of patients suspected of antibiotic associated diarrhoea]. | fifty faecal samples from patients suspected of aad (antibiotic associated diarrhoea) were studied for clostridium difficile and enterotoxin producing bacteroides fragilis (etbf). using tcd (becton-dickinson) and c. difficile toxin a test (oxoid) in 34% of specimens the presence of toxin a was detected. from all specimens 25 c. difficile strains were isolated. all isolated strains produced toxin b in vitro which was shown in mc coy cytotoxicity test. eighteen strains only were toxin a positive i ... | 1999 | 10865431 |
| fmlp-induced arachidonic acid release in db-camp-differentiated hl-60 cells is independent of phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate-specific phospholipase c activation and cytosolic phospholipase a(2) activation. | in inflammatory cells, agonist-stimulated arachidonic acid (aa) release is thought to be induced by activation of group iv ca(2+)-dependent cytosolic phospholipase a(2) (cpla(2)) through mitogen-activated protein kinase (map kinase)- and/or protein kinase c (pkc)-mediated phosphorylation and ca(2+)-dependent translocation of the enzyme to the membrane. here we investigated the role of phospholipases in n-formylmethionyl-l-leucyl-l-phenylalanine (fmlp; 1 nm-10 microm)-induced aa release from neut ... | 2000 | 10860542 |
| in vitro activity of rifaximin, metronidazole and vancomycin against clostridium difficile and the rate of selection of spontaneously resistant mutants against representative anaerobic and aerobic bacteria, including ammonia-producing species. | rifaximin is a rifamycin derivative characterized by a wide antibacterial activity. this drug is neither absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract nor inactivated by gastric juices, and exerts its action entirely within the intestinal lumen. | 2000 | 10859431 |
| ras mediates the camp-dependent activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (erks) in melanocytes. | in melanocytes and melanoma cells, camp activates extracellular signal-regulated kinases (erks) and mek-1 by an unknown mechanism. we demonstrate that b-raf is activated by camp in melanocytes. a dominant-negative mutant of b-raf, but not of raf-1, blocked the camp-induced activation of erk, indicating that b-raf is the mek-1 upstream regulator mediating this camp effect. studies using clostridium sordelii lethal toxin and clostridium difficile toxin b have suggested that rap-1 or ras might tran ... | 2000 | 10856235 |
| confirmation of transmission of the microsporidian parasite enterocytozoon bieneusi in south africa. | 2000 | 10853401 | |
| characterization of the ends and target sites of the novel conjugative transposon tn5397 from clostridium difficile: excision and circularization is mediated by the large resolvase, tndx. | tn5397 is a conjugative transposon that was originally isolated from clostridium difficile. previous analysis had shown that the central region of tn5397 was closely related to the conjugative transposon tn916. however, in this work we obtained the dna sequence of the ends of tn5397 and showed that they are completely different to those of tn916. tn5397 did not contain the int and xis genes, which are required for the excision and integration of tn916. instead, the right end of tn5397 contained ... | 2000 | 10850994 |
| [diagnosis of clostridium difficile infection in pseudomembranous colitis]. | c. difficile is known as the main cause of pseudomembranous colitis, however, some individuals may be asymptomatically colonized. in this paper two patients with diarrhoea had three respectively five negative stool cultures. endoscopically, one patient had severe colitis consistent with both pseudomembranous colitis and inflammatory bowel disease. in the other case the endoscopic findings were typical for pseudomembranous colitis. in both cases there were positive cultures for c. difficile from ... | 2000 | 10850214 |
| clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea in hospitalised patients. | the aim of the present study was to evaluate the incidence, risk factors and cost implications of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (cdad) in hospitalized adult patients. | 2000 | 10849187 |
| hospital-acquired infections among chronic hemodialysis patients. | the epidemiological characteristics of nosocomial infections among patients requiring chronic hemodialysis, a high-risk and rapidly growing population, have not been fully elucidated. during a 30-month cohort study, rates of bloodstream infections (bsis), urinary tract infections (utis), pneumonia, and diarrhea caused by clostridium difficile and the distribution of pathogens among hospitalized chronic hemodialysis patients were compared with hospitalized patients not requiring chronic hemodialy ... | 2000 | 10845821 |
| inhibition of rho protein stimulates inos expression in rat vascular smooth muscle cells. | inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos) in vascular smooth muscle cells (vsmcs) is upregulated in arterial injury and plays a role in regulating vsmc proliferation and restenosis. inflammatory cytokines [e.g., interleukin-1beta (il-1beta)] released during vascular injury induce inos. small gtp-binding proteins of the ras superfamily play a major role in il-1beta-dependent signaling pathways. in this study, we examined the role of rho gtpases in regulating inos expression in vsmcs. treatment of vs ... | 2000 | 10843870 |
| hiv and diarrhea in the era of haart: 1998 new york state hospitalizations. | this study reflects an attempt to identify the causes of diarrheal illness in hospitalized hiv patients in light of therapeutic advancements in hiv management. | 2000 | 10840348 |
| characterization of surface layer proteins from different clostridium difficile clinical isolates. | in a previous study we suggested that two surface proteins of a clostridium difficile strain were involved in the formation of a regularly assembled surface layer (s-layer) external to the cell wall. in the present paper six c. difficile strains isolated from cases and healthy carriers were studied. by using freeze-etching and negative staining techniques two superimposed structurally different lattices were detected on the cell surface of the different c. difficile strains. in each strain, the ... | 2000 | 10839973 |
| epidemiology of recurrences or reinfections of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. | approximately 15 to 35% of patients with a first episode of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea relapse within 2 months. between 1994 and 1997, strains from 93 hospitalized patients with c. difficile recurrences were fingerprinted by using both serotyping and pcr-ribotyping. the results showed that 48.4% of clinical recurrences were, in fact, reinfections with a different strain of c. difficile. rates of clinical recurrences could therefore be reduced by implementing strict isolation preca ... | 2000 | 10835010 |
| activation of astroglial phospholipase d activity by phorbol ester involves arf and rho proteins. | primary cultures of rat cortical astrocytes express phospholipase d (pld) isoforms 1 and 2 as determined by rt-pcr and western blot. basal pld activity was strongly (10-fold) increased by 4beta-phorbol-12beta,13alpha-dibutyrate (pdb) (ec(50): 56 nm), an effect which was inhibited by ro 31-8220 (0.1-1 microm), an inhibitor of protein kinase c (pkc), and by brefeldin a (10-100 microg/ml), an inhibitor of adp-ribosylating factor (arf) activation. pretreatment of the cultures with clostridium diffic ... | 2000 | 10832096 |
| convulsions induced by metronidazole treatment for clostridium difficile-associated disease in chronic renal failure. | clostridium difficile-related diarrhea and colitis are common health problems, especially in elderly, frail hospitalized patients. the drug of choice is metronidazole, which can be associated, in long or high doses, with neurotoxic side effects. we report convulsions induced by short-term metronidazole therapy used in conventional doses for clostridium difficile colitis in an elderly patient with chronic renal failure. | 2000 | 10830559 |
| clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in human immunodeficiency virus infection--a changing scenario. | 1999 | 10825082 | |
| laboratory assessment of five enzyme immunoassay clostridium difficile toxin detection kits. | 1999 | 10824330 | |
| toxic megacolon secondary to infective colitis in children. | toxic megacolon is a fulminating and potentially lethal complication of severe colitis. toxic megacolon secondary to infective colitis in children is rare. we analyzed the clinical course, pathology, treatment, and outcome of toxic megacolon secondary to infective colitis in children. | 2000 | 10820951 |
| enteropathogens in adult patients with diarrhea and healthy control subjects: a 1-year prospective study in a swedish clinic for infectious diseases. | a 1-year prospective study was conducted to identify enteropathogens in adults with diarrhea (n=851) and in healthy control subjects (n=203) by use of conventional laboratory methods. virulence factor genes for diarrheagenic escherichia coli were detected by polymerase chain reaction. enteropathogens were identified in 56% of patients and 16% of control subjects. the isolation rate was 65% for patients with symptoms for <1 week and for travelers; >1 pathogen was found in 11% of patients. the mos ... | 2000 | 10816147 |
| autologous blood and marrow transplantation in patients 60 years and older. | although many hematologic malignancies are more common in older patients, autologous blood and marrow transplantation (abmt) has traditionally been restricted to patients younger than 60 years because of concerns that older patients would be either unable to provide a graft or unable to tolerate the therapy. from june 1995 to may 1998, 30 patients > or = 60 years underwent abmt at our institution for low-grade lymphoma (4 patients), relapsed intermediate-grade lymphoma (17 patients), or multiple ... | 2000 | 10816029 |
| clostridium difficile in patients with renal failure - management of an outbreak using biotherapy. | 2000 | 10809792 | |
| rho proteins and the p38-mapk pathway are important mediators for lps-induced interleukin-8 expression in human endothelial cells. | bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, or lps) has potent proinflammatory properties by acting on many cell types, including endothelial cells. secretion of the cxc-chemokine interleukin-8 (il-8) by lps-activated endothelial cells contributes substantially to the inflammatory response. using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (huvecs), we analyzed the role of small gtp-binding rho proteins and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (mapk) for lps-dependent il-8 expression in endothelial cell ... | 2000 | 10807767 |
| production of actin-specific adp-ribosyltransferase (binary toxin) by strains of clostridium difficile. | in addition to the two large clostridial cytotoxins (tcda and tcdb) certain strains of clostridium difficile produce an actin-specific adp-ribosyltransferase, or binary toxin. pcr reactions were developed to detect genes encoding the enzymatic (cdta) and binding (cdtb) components of the binary toxin and 170 representative strains were tested to assess the prevalence of the toxin. positive pcr results (n=59) were confirmed by immunoblotting and adp-ribosyltransferase assay. pcr ribotype and toxin ... | 2000 | 10802189 |
| a role for the small molecular weight gtpases, rho and cdc42, in muscarinic receptor signaling to focal adhesion kinase. | an enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (fak) is elicited during neuronal growth cone remodeling and requires the maintenance of agonist-sensitive pools of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (pip2). rho family gtpases are putative regulators of both pip2 synthesis and growth cone remodeling, including neurite outgrowth elicited by muscarinic cholinergic receptor (machr) stimulation. in this study, we investigated the interrelationships among rho family gtpases, pip2 synt ... | 2000 | 10800944 |
| synchronous occurrence of collagenous colitis and pseudomembranous colitis. | synchronous collagenous and pseudomembranous colitis has not been previously reported. a 73-year-old woman presented with chronic watery diarrhea and abdominal cramping of six weeks' duration. biopsies of the colon revealed findings of collagenous colitis involving the endoscopically normal right colon, and superimposed collagenous and pseudomembranous colitis involving the rectosigmoid colon. endoscopically, the left colon revealed discrete ulcerative plaques, and clostridium difficile toxin a ... | 2000 | 10799091 |
| persistent clostridium difficile colitis: a possible etiology for the development of collagenous colitis. | 2000 | 10795766 | |
| pseudomembranous enteritis after proctocolectomy: report of a case. | intestinal pseudomembrane formation, sometimes a manifestation of antibiotic-associated diarrheal illnesses, is typically limited to the colon but rarely may affect the small bowel. a 56-year-old female taking antibiotics, who had undergone proctocolectomy for idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease, presented with septic shock and hypotension. a partial small-bowel resection revealed extensive mucosal pseudomembranes, which were cultured positive for clostridium difficile. intestinal drainage con ... | 2000 | 10789757 |
| involvement of a conserved tryptophan residue in the udp-glucose binding of large clostridial cytotoxin glycosyltransferases. | large clostridial cytotoxins catalyze the glucosylation of rho/ras gtpases using udp-glucose as a cosubstrate. by site-directed mutagenesis of clostridium sordellii lethal toxin and clostridium difficile toxin b fragments, we identified tryptophan 102, which is located in a conserved region within the catalytic domain of all clostridial cytotoxins, to be crucial for udp-glucose binding. exchange of trp-102 with alanine decreased the glucosyltransferase activity by about 1,000-fold and blocked cy ... | 2000 | 10788427 |
| epidemiology of antibiotic resistance. | three biological processes contribute to the accumulation of bacterial drug resistance: new selection, gene epidemics and strain epidemics. new resistance emerges by (i) the advantaging of entire species, (ii) by mutation, and (iii) by the escape of resistance genes to mobile dna. organisms to have 'benefited' from modern patterns of cephalosporins and quinolone use include enterococci, clostridium difficile, coagulase-negative staphylococci and enterobacter spp. mutational resistance notoriousl ... | 2000 | 10786953 |
| a clostridium difficile gene encoding flagellin. | six strains of clostridium difficile examined by electron microscopy were found to carry flagella. the flagella of these strains were extracted and the n-terminal sequences of the flagellin proteins were determined. four of the strains carried the n-terminal sequence mrvntnvsal exhibiting up to 90% identity to numerous flagellins. using degenerate primers based on the n-terminal sequence and the conserved c-terminal sequence of several flagellins, the gene encoding the flagellum subunit (flic) w ... | 2000 | 10784054 |
| short-acting general anaesthesia facilitates therapeutic ercp in frail elderly patients with benign extra-hepatic biliary disease. | to ascertain whether therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ercp) for benign biliary disease in frail elderly patients with comorbid conditions can be safely undertaken in a district general hospital, and whether the procedure is facilitated by the use of short-acting general anaesthesia. | 2000 | 10784000 |
| acute abdomen and clostridium difficile colitis: still a lethal combination. | with the steadily prevalent appropriate and inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents, clostridium difficile colitis has continued to be noticed as a common problem in hospitalized patients. the aim of this communication is to highlight a subset of c. difficile colitis patients who presented with an acute abdomen. | 2000 | 10781981 |
| systemic vancomycin overexposure in a patient with spinal cord injury who had staphylococcal sepsis and clostridium difficile colitis. | 2000 | 10774640 | |
| p38 map kinase activation by clostridium difficile toxin a mediates monocyte necrosis, il-8 production, and enteritis. | clostridium difficile toxin a causes acute neutrophil infiltration and intestinal mucosal injury. in cultured cells, toxin a inactivates rho proteins by monoglucosylation. in monocytes, toxin a induces il-8 production and necrosis by unknown mechanisms. we investigated the role of mitogen-activated protein (map) kinases in these events. in thp-1 monocytic cells, toxin a activated the 3 main map kinase cascades within 1 to 2 minutes. activation of p38 was sustained, whereas stimulation of extrace ... | 2000 | 10772660 |
| ph-induced conformational changes in clostridium difficile toxin b. | toxin b from clostridium difficile is a monoglucosylating toxin that targets substrates within the cytosol of mammalian cells. in this study, we investigated the impact of acidic ph on cytosolic entry and structural changes within toxin b. bafilomycin a1 was used to block endosomal acidification and subsequent toxin b translocation. cytopathic effects could be completely blocked by addition of bafilomycin a1 up to 20 min following toxin treatment. furthermore, providing a low extracellular ph co ... | 2000 | 10768933 |
| fecal incontinence in hospitalized patients who are acutely ill. | information about fecal incontinence experienced by patients in acute-care settings is lacking. the relationship of fecal incontinence to several well-known nosocomial or iatrogenic causes of diarrhea has not been determined. | 2000 | 10768587 |
| comparison of the tox a/b test to a cell culture cytotoxicity assay for the detection of clostridium difficile in stools. | the tox a/b test (techlab, blacksburg, va, usa) was compared to cell culture cytotoxicity assay on 1109 consecutive diarrheal stool samples collected from patients with the presumptive diagnosis of clostridium difficile disease. the tox a/b test is an enzyme immunoassay in a microtiter format that detects both toxins a and b. the procedure used for this study takes approximately 1.5 h to perform. cell culture cytotoxicity was performed by using a fibroblast cell line in a microtiter format read ... | 2000 | 10764962 |
| the small g-protein rac mediates depolarization-induced superoxide formation in human endothelial cells. | superoxide anions impair nitric oxide-mediated responses and are involved in the development of hypertensive vascular hypertrophy. the regulation of their production in the vascular system is, however, poorly understood. we investigated whether changes in membrane potential that occur in hypertensive vessels modulate endothelial superoxide production. in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells, changes in membrane potential were induced by high potassium buffer, the non-selective potassi ... | 2000 | 10764736 |
| recurrent clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and colitis treated with saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) in combination with antibiotic therapy: a case report. | 2000 | 10764197 | |
| re: kreiss et al.: pneumatosis intestinalis complicating c. difficile pseudomembranous colitis. | 2000 | 10763988 | |
| re: clinical characteristics and antibiotic utilization in surgical patients with clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. | 2000 | 10759208 | |
| evaluation of different methods for detection of clostridium difficile toxins in poland. | the aim of this study was to compare different methods for c. difficile toxins detection. fifty three stool samples taken from patients with antibiotic-associated diarrhoea were studied. tcd toxin a eia (becton dickinson, usa), tox a/b elisa test (techlab, usa), cytotoxicity and neutralization assay on mccoy cells and pcr for detection of both toxin a and b genes were performed in vivo (in stool samples) and in vitro (in isolated strains). reference toxigenic and nontoxigenic and two japanese to ... | 1999 | 10756719 |
| gastric acid suppression does not promote clostridial diarrhoea in the elderly. | gastric acid prevents bacterial colonization of the stomach and suppression of its secretion might predispose to clostridium difficile (cd) diarrhoea. we retrospectively studied elderly patients admitted to medical wards of an acute hospital to determine whether the incidence of cd diarrhoea was greater among those previously treated with gastric acid suppressants. from records of stool cd toxin tests undertaken in 1995 and 1996, we found 126 cases with positive results, and selected 126 control ... | 2000 | 10751237 |
| inhibition of calcium release-activated calcium current by rac/cdc42-inactivating clostridial cytotoxins in rbl cells. | using large clostridial cytotoxins as tools, the role of rho gtpases in activation of rbl 2h3 hm1 cells was studied. clostridium difficile toxin b, which glucosylates rho, rac, and cdc42 and clostridium sordellii lethal toxin, which glucosylates rac and cdc42 but not rho, inhibited the release of hexosaminidase from rbl cells mediated by the high affinity antigen receptor (fcepsilonri). additionally, toxin b and lethal toxin inhibited the intracellular ca(2+) mobilization induced by fcepsilonri- ... | 2000 | 10749865 |
| intestinal colonization leading to fecal urobilinoid excretion may play a role in the pathogenesis of neonatal jaundice. | neonatal hyperbilirubinemia remains of concern because of the potential danger for the central nervous system. because urobilinogen is a nontoxic derivative of bilirubin, the current study was conducted to examine the fecal excretion of urobilinoids and bilirubin in healthy newborns and infants, as well as their intestinal bacteria capable of reducing bilirubin, to assess a possible relation to serum bilirubin levels during the first weeks of life. | 2000 | 10749414 |
| pseudomembranous colitis in a patient treated with paclitaxel for carcinoma of the breast: a case report. | the concomitant antimicrobial properties of antineoplastic agents may play a role in causing pseudomembranous colitis, which has been documented for cisplatin, cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil. | 2000 | 10748982 |
| in vitro antibacterial spectrum of a new broad-spectrum 8-methoxy fluoroquinolone, gatifloxacin. | the in vitro antibacterial spectrum of gatifloxacin was compared with those of ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin. gatifloxacin was two- to four-fold more potent than comparator quinolones against staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci and enterococci (gatifloxacin mic90s, < or =1 mg/l, except 4 mg/l against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and enterococcus faecium). gatifloxacin was two-fold less potent than ciprofloxacin, and the same as or two-fold more potent than ofloxacin against ent ... | 2000 | 10747819 |
| pseudomembranous colitis caused by a toxin a(-) b(+) strain of clostridium difficile. | we report a case of severe pseudomembranous colitis due to a toxin a(-) b(+) strain of clostridium difficile in an immunosuppressed patient and discuss the implications for diagnostic testing in suspected c. difficile-associated diarrhea. | 2000 | 10747174 |
| [joint manifestations related to clostridium difficile]. | reactional joint disease subsequent to digestive tract infections have been well studied for salmonella, shigella, yersinia and campylobacter. association with hla b27 is well documented. a review of the literature since 1976 disclosed 23 cases of articular and extra-articular inflammatory reactions following pseudomembranous clostridium difficile infection. | 2000 | 10745937 |
| control of nosocomial clostridium difficile transmission in bone marrow transplant patients. | this is a report of six cases of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (cdad) that occurred among cancer patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation in a tertiary-care cancer hospital. specific infection control measures that were taken to minimize the nosocomial spread of cdad also are discussed. | 2000 | 10738997 |
| rho family proteins modulate rapid apoptosis induced by cytotoxic t lymphocytes and fas. | little is known about the role of rho proteins in apoptosis produced by stimuli evolved specifically to produce apoptosis, such as granzymes from cytotoxic t lymphocytes (ctls) and fas. here we demonstrate that all three rho family members are involved in ctl- and fas-induced killing. dominant-negative mutants of each rho family member and clostridium difficile toxin b, an inhibitor of all family members, strongly inhibited the susceptibility of cells to ctl- and fas-induced apoptosis. fas-induc ... | 2000 | 10734125 |
| evaluation of the clinical usefulness of c. difficile toxin testing in hospitalized patients with diarrhea. | although numerous studies have evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of different assays for clostridium difficile toxin, none has evaluated how physicians utilize these tests or respond to test results. therefore, we assessed patient characteristics, clinical findings, and physician responses to positive and negative assay results at two university-affiliated hospitals, one of which used a cell cytotoxicity assay to test for c. difficile toxin and the other of which used an enzyme immunoass ... | 2000 | 10729659 |
| clostridium difficile recombinant toxin a repeating units as a carrier protein for conjugate vaccines: studies of pneumococcal type 14, escherichia coli k1, and shigella flexneri type 2a polysaccharides in mice. | unlike the native protein, a nontoxic peptide (repeating unit of the native toxin designated raru) from clostridium difficile toxin a (cdta) afforded an antigen that could be bound covalently to the surface polysaccharides of pneumococcus type 14, shigella flexneri type 2a, and escherichia coli k1. the yields of these polysaccharide-protein conjugates were significantly increased by prior treatment of raru with succinic anhydride. conjugates, prepared with raru or succinylated (rarusucc), were a ... | 2000 | 10722615 |
| epidemiology of nosocomial infection and resistant organisms in patients admitted for the first time to an acute rehabilitation unit. | the objectives of this study were to define the epidemiology of nosocomial bacterial colonization and infection and to define predictors of nosocomial infection among a cohort (n=423) of admissions to an acute rehabilitation unit. overall, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) and enterococci were the most commonly identified colonizing organisms. escherichia coli and pseudomonas aeruginosa were the most commonly identified colonizing gram-negative bacilli. during 70 (16.5%) of the ... | 2000 | 10722423 |
| the role of probiotic cultures in the control of gastrointestinal health. | the use of probiotics to enhance intestinal health has been proposed for many years. probiotics are traditionally defined as viable microorganisms that have a beneficial effect in the prevention and treatment of specific pathologic conditions when they are ingested. there is a relatively large volume of literature that supports the use of probiotics to prevent or treat intestinal disorders. however, the scientific basis of probiotic use has been firmly established only recently, and sound clinic ... | 2000 | 10721914 |
| clostridium difficile toxin a excites enteric neurones and suppresses sympathetic neurotransmission in the guinea pig. | evidence suggests that the intestinal actions of clostridium difficile toxin a-stimulation of secretion and motility, and an acute inflammatory response-have a neurally mediated component. | 2000 | 10716676 |
| divergent roles for ras and rap in the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase by interleukin-1. | we have found that lethal toxin from clostridium sordellii, which specifically inactivates the low molecular weight g proteins ras, rap, and rac, inhibits the activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (mapk) by interleukin-1 (il-1) in el4.nob-1 cells and primary fibroblasts. the target protein involved appeared to be ras, because transient transfections with dominant negative rasn17 inhibited p38 mapk activation by il-1. furthermore, transfections of cells with constitutively active ras ... | 2000 | 10713096 |
| a rho-related gtpase is involved in ca(2+)-dependent neurotransmitter exocytosis. | rho, rac, and cdc42 monomeric gtpases are well known regulators of the actin cytoskeleton and phosphoinositide metabolism and have been implicated in hormone secretion in endocrine cells. here, we examine their possible implication in ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis of neurotransmitters. using subcellular fractionation procedures, we found that rhoa, rhob, rac1, and cdc42 are present in rat brain synaptosomes; however, only rac1 was associated with highly purified synaptic vesicles. to determine the ... | 2000 | 10713089 |
| the p42/p44 map kinase pathway prevents apoptosis induced by anchorage and serum removal. | anchorage removal like growth factor removal induces apoptosis. in the present study we have characterized signaling pathways that can prevent this cell death using a highly growth factor- and anchorage-dependent line of lung fibroblasts (ccl39). after anchorage removal from exponentially growing cells, annexin v-fitc labeling can be detected after 8 h. apoptosis was confirmed by analysis of sub-g1 dna content and western blotting of the caspase substrate poly (adp-ribose) polymerase. growth fac ... | 2000 | 10712523 |
| clostridium difficile splenic abscess. | 2000 | 10711482 | |
| factors associated with nosocomial diarrhea and clostridium difficile-associated disease on the adult wards of an urban tertiary care hospital. | a prospective survey of the adult inpatient population of an urban tertiary care hospital was conducted to determine factors associated with the development of nosocomial diarrhea and the acquisition of clostridium difficile-associated disease. during the 3-month survey, 98 patients with nosocomial diarrhea were enrolled, and 38 controls were recruited. the controls were patients without diarrhea lying in beds adjacent to the affected patients. factors significantly associated with nosocomial di ... | 2000 | 10706173 |
| rho and rac exert antagonistic functions on spreading of macrophage-derived multinucleated cells and are not required for actin fiber formation. | multinucleated giant cells (mngc) derived from avian blood monocytes present, like osteoclasts, an unusual cytoskeletal organization characterized by (1) cortical rings of actin filaments, (2) unique adhesion structures called podosomes and (3) vinculin containing focal complexes which are not visibly connected to f-actin structures. the rho family of small gtpases plays an essential role in the regulation and organization of cellular cytoskeletal structures including f-actin and vinculin associ ... | 2000 | 10704369 |
| reactive arthritis after helicobacter pylori eradication. | 2000 | 10703805 |