| longitudinal evaluation of the efficacy of heat treatment procedures against legionella spp. in hospital water systems by using a flow cytometric assay. | legionella spp. are frequently isolated in hospital water systems. heat shock (30 min at 70°c) is recommended by the world health organization to control its multiplication. the aim of the study was to evaluate retrospectively the efficacy of heat treatments by using a flow cytometry assay (fca) able to identify viable but nonculturable (vbnc) cells. the study included legionella strains (l. pneumophila [3 clusters] and l. anisa [1 cluster]) isolated from four hot water circuits of different hos ... | 2010 | 21183641 |
| structural and functional studies of fatty acyl adenylate ligases from e. coli and l. pneumophila. | fatty acyl-amp ligase (faal) is a new member of a family of adenylate-forming enzymes that were recently discovered in mycobacterium tuberculosis. they are similar in sequence to fatty acyl-coenzyme a (coa) ligases (facls). however, while facls perform a two-step catalytic reaction, amp ligation followed by coa ligation using atp and coa as cofactors, faals produce only the acyl adenylate and are unable to perform the second step. we report x-ray crystal structures of full-length faal from esche ... | 2010 | 21185305 |
| identification of legionella feeleii cellulitis. | | 2011 | 21192884 |
| specific real-time pcr for simultaneous detection and identification of legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 in water and clinical samples. | legionella pneumophila, a bacterium that replicates within aquatic amoebae and persists in the environment as a free-living microbe, is the causative agent of legionnaires' disease. among the many legionella species described, l. pneumophila is associated with 90% of human disease, and within the 15 serogroups (sg), l. pneumophila sg1 causes more than 84% of legionnaires' disease worldwide. thus, rapid and specific identification of l. pneumophila sg1 is of the utmost importance for evaluation o ... | 2010 | 21193672 |
| do free-living amoebae in treated drinking water systems present an emerging health risk? | there is an expanding body of evidence that free-living amoebae (fla) increase both the numbers and virulence of water-based, human-pathogenic, amoeba-resisting microorganisms (arm). legionella spp., mycobacterium spp., and other opportunistic human pathogens are known to be both arm and also the etiologic agents of potentially fatal human lung infections. however, comparatively little is known about the fla that may facilitate arm growth in drinking water. this review examines the available lit ... | 2010 | 21194220 |
| methodologies for quantifying culturable, viable, and total legionella pneumophila in indoor air. | abstract legionella pneumophila, aerosolized from numerous indoor facilities (e.g., shower heads, hot tubs, spas), may cause pontiac fever (pf) and lethal pneumonia named legionnaires' disease (ld) in humans. reliable methods on quantitative exposure assessment of this bioaerosol are essential for the prevention of pf and ld. coupled with culture, ethidium monoazide with qpcr, and qpcr assays, the collection efficiency for culturable, viable, and total l. pneumophila was assessed by means of fi ... | 2010 | 21198889 |
| can technical, functional and structural characteristics of dental units predict legionella pneumophila and pseudomonas aeruginosa contamination? | legionella pneumophila and pseudomonas aeruginosa are common colonizers of water environments, particularly dental unit waterlines. the aim of this study was to assess whether the technical, functional and structural characteristics of dental units can influence the presence and the levels of opportunistic pathogens. overall, 42 water samples were collected from dental units in a teaching hospital in palermo, italy, including 21 samples from the 21 taps supplied by the municipal water distributi ... | 2010 | 21206168 |
| the coxiella burnetii cryptic plasmid is enriched in genes encoding type iv secretion system substrates. | the intracellular bacterial pathogen coxiella burnetii directs biogenesis of a phagolysosome-like parasitophorous vacuole (pv), in which it replicates. the organism encodes a dot/icm type iv secretion system (t4ss) predicted to deliver to the host cytosol effector proteins that mediate pv formation and other cellular events. all c. burnetii isolates carry a large, autonomously replicating plasmid or have chromosomally integrated plasmid-like sequences (ips), suggesting that plasmid and ips genes ... | 2011 | 21216993 |
| in vitro intracellular activity and in vivo efficacy of modithromycin, a novel bicyclolide, against legionella pneumophila. | the in vitro and in vivo activities of modithromycin, a novel bicyclolide, against legionella pneumophila were compared with those of telithromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, and levofloxacin. all the test agents decreased the intracellular growth of viable l. pneumophila bacteria over 96 h of incubation in both types of cells used, a/j mouse-derived macrophages and a549 human alveolar epithelial cells, at extracellular concentrations of 4× and 16× mic, respectively. however, when the agents ... | 2011 | 21220530 |
| in vitro antibacterial activity of modithromycin, a novel 6,11-bridged bicyclolide, against respiratory pathogens, including macrolide-resistant gram-positive cocci. | the in vitro activities of modithromycin against gram-positive and -negative respiratory pathogens, including macrolide-resistant cocci with different resistance mechanisms, were compared with those of other macrolide and ketolide agents. mics were determined by the broth microdilution method. all 595 test strains used in this study were isolated from japanese medical facilities. the erm (ribosome methylase) and/or mef (efflux pump) gene, which correlated with resistance to erythromycin as well ... | 2011 | 21220534 |
| ventilatory and ecmo treatment of h1n1-induced severe respiratory failure: results of an italian referral ecmo center. | since the first outbreak of a respiratory illness caused by h1n1 virus in mexico, several reports have described the need of intensive care or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ecmo) assistance in young and often healthy patients. here we describe our experience in h1n1-induced ards using both ventilation strategy and ecmo assistance. | 2011 | 21223541 |
| cluster of legionnaires disease in a newly built block of flats, denmark, december 2008 - january 2009. | during december 2008 to january 2009, two persons contracted legionnaires’ disease in a newly built block of flats in a suburb of copenhagen in denmark. polymerase chain reaction and culture was used to diagnose legionnaires’ disease in this cluster. isolates from both patients tested positive for legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 subgroup philadelphia sequence type 1 and the same strain was detected in hot water samples taken from the residential area indicating that the hot water supply syste ... | 2011 | 21223834 |
| observation of content and heterogeneity of poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid (phb) in legionella bozemanii by vibrational spectroscopy. | information on how cells respond to their environment, interact with each other, or undergo complex processes such as cellular differentiation or gene expression has been obtained mostly by interference from population-level data. individual microorganisms, even those on supposedly "clonal" populations, may differ widely from each other in terms of their genetic composition, physiology, biochemistry, or behaviours. this genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity has important practical consequences fo ... | 2011 | 21240420 |
| ecological behaviour of three serogroups of legionella pneumophila within a model plumbing system. | three legionella pneumophila strains isolated from water samples and belonging to serogroups (sgs) 1, 6 and 9 were analysed for their capacity to colonise an experimental model simulating a domestic hot water distribution system. ecological factors that could influence the persistence of the sgs such as intracellular life within protozoan hosts and bacterial interference by the production of antagonistic compounds were also studied. viable counts of l. pneumophila increased both in the planktoni ... | 2011 | 21240698 |
| organizing pneumonia pattern in the follow-up ct of legionella-infected patients. | the main aim of this study was to describe the appearance of the ct pattern of organizing pneumonia in legionella-infected patients. serial ct scans obtained from five sporadic cases of legionella pneumophila pneumonia were retrospectively reviewed. the mean time of follow-up was 14 days. chest ct was analyzed with regard to frequency and appearance of ct patterns of pulmonary abnormalities. consolidation and ground-glass opacities, with or without an air bronchogram, were the most common abnorm ... | 2011 | 21243397 |
| diversonol and blennolide derivatives from the endophytic fungus microdiplodia sp.: absolute configuration of diversonol. | chemical investigation of the fungal strain microdiplodia sp. isolated from the shrub lycium intricatum led to the isolation of four new compounds: a hexahydroxanthone (2), a 2,3-dihydrochroman-4-one (3), a 7-oxoxanthone derivative (4), and a 1,4-oxazepan-7-one (5). the relative configurations of the new compounds were determined by intensive nmr investigations, notably noesy experiments at different temperatures. the absolute configurations of the well-known fungal metabolite diversonol (1) and ... | 2011 | 21244021 |
| rapid identification of legionella spp. by maldi-tof ms based protein mass fingerprinting. | a set of reference strains representing 38 different legionella species were submitted to whole cell mass spectrometry (wcms) with maldi-tof. the dendrogram computed from strain mass spectral patterns obtained by wcms was compared to the phylogenetic tree obtained from macrophage infectivity potentiator (mip) sequences. the trees inferred from these two methods revealed significant homologies. using 453 legionella isolates previously characterized by genotyping, it was possible to create species ... | 2011 | 21247716 |
| cyclic diguanylate signaling proteins control intracellular growth of legionella pneumophila. | proteins that metabolize or bind the nucleotide second messenger cyclic diguanylate regulate a wide variety of important processes in bacteria. these processes include motility, biofilm formation, cell division, differentiation, and virulence. the role of cyclic diguanylate signaling in the lifestyle of legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of legionnaires' disease, has not previously been examined. the l. pneumophila genome encodes 22 predicted proteins containing domains related to cycli ... | 2011 | 21249170 |
| microbial aetiology of community-acquired pneumonia and its relation to severity. | the distribution of the microbial aetiology and mortality of community-acquired pneumonia (cap) was investigated in relation to the clinical setting and severity scores (pneumonia severity index (psi) and confusion, blood urea nitrogen, respiratory rate, blood pressure, age (curb-65)). | 2011 | 21257985 |
| structural insights into the membrane-extracted dimeric form of the atpase trab from the escherichia coli pkm101 conjugation system. | type iv secretion (t4s) systems are involved in secretion of virulence factors such as toxins or transforming molecules, or bacterial conjugation. t4s systems are composed of 12 proteins named virb1-b11 and vird4. among them, three atpases are involved in the assembly of the t4s system and/or provide energy for substrate transfer, virb4, virb11 and vird4. the x-ray crystal structures of virb11 and vird4 have already been solved but virb4 has proven to be reluctant to any structural investigation ... | 2011 | 21266026 |
| [identification of legionella isolates from environmental water by using pcr combined with enzymatic digestion analysis]. | to evaluate polymerase chain reaction (pcr) combined with enzymatic digestion for identification of legionella, and investigate status of legionella in environmental water systems in guangzhou. | 2010 | 21268900 |
| nonhematopoietic cells are key players in innate control of bacterial airway infection. | airborne pathogens encounter several hurdles during host invasion, including alveolar macrophages (ams) and airway epithelial cells (aecs) and their products. although growing evidence indicates pathogen-sensing capacities of epithelial cells, the relative contribution of hematopoietic versus nonhematopoietic cells in the induction of an inflammatory response and their possible interplay is still poorly defined in vivo in the context of infections with pathogenic microorganisms. in this study, w ... | 2011 | 21270399 |
| the synergy of permeable pavements and geothermal heat pumps for stormwater treatment and reuse. | the use of permeable pavement systems with integrated geothermal heat pumps for the treatment and recycling of urban runoff is novel and timely. this study assesses the efficiency of the combined technology for controlled indoor and uncontrolled outdoor experimental rigs. water quality parameters such as biochemical oxygen demand, nutrients, total viable heterotrophic bacteria and total coliforms were tested before and after treatment in both rigs. the water borne bacterial community genomic deo ... | 2010 | 21275249 |
| evaluation of an immunomagnetic separation assay in combination with cultivation to improve legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 recovery from environmental samples. | aims: legionella isolation from environmental samples is often difficult because of the presence of heterotrophic-associated bacteria that frequently overgrow when using standard culture (iso 11731, 1998; nf t90-431, 2003) methods. to improve legionella pneumophila recovery from complex water samples (water from cooling towers, biofilms), we evaluated an immunomagnetic separation (ims) assay using a monoclonal antibody raised against the lipopolysaccharide of leg. pneumophila sg1 in combination ... | 2011 | 21276145 |
| an international trial of quantitative pcr for monitoring legionella in artificial water systems. | aims: to perform an international trial to derive alert and action levels for the use of quantitative pcr (qpcr) in the monitoring of legionella to determine the effectiveness of control measures against legionellae. methods and results: laboratories (7) participated from six countries. legionellae were determined by culture and qpcr methods with comparable detection limits. systems were monitored over =10 weeks. for cooling towers (232 samples), there was a significant difference between the ... | 2011 | 21276147 |
| development of a dna microarray for detection and identification of legionella pneumophila and ten other pathogens in drinking water. | the safety and accessibility of drinking water are major concerns throughout the world. consumption of water contaminated with infectious agents, toxic chemicals or radiological hazards represents a significant health risk and is strongly associated with mortality. therefore, we have developed an oligonucleotide-based microarray using the sequences of 16s-23s rdna internal transcribed spacer regions (its) and the gyrase subunit b gene (gyrb) found in the most prevalent and devastating waterborne ... | 2011 | 21276629 |
| legionella pneumophila lbtu acts as a novel, tonb-independent receptor for the legiobactin siderophore. | gram-negative legionella pneumophila produces a siderophore (legiobactin) that promotes lung infection. we previously determined that lbta and lbtb are required for the synthesis and secretion of legiobactin. dna sequence and reverse transcription-pcr (rt-pcr) analyses now reveal the presence of an iron-repressed gene (lbtu) directly upstream of the lbtab-containing operon. in silico analysis predicted that lbtu is an outer membrane protein consisting of a 16-stranded transmembrane ß-barrel, mul ... | 2011 | 21278293 |
| differential requirements for naip5 in activation of the nlrc4 inflammasome. | inflammasomes are cytosolic multiprotein complexes that assemble in response to infectious or noxious stimuli and activate the caspase-1 protease. the inflammasome containing the nucleotide binding domain-leucine-rich repeat (nbd-lrr) protein nlrc4 (interleukin-converting enzyme protease-activating factor [ipaf]) responds to the cytosolic presence of bacterial proteins such as flagellin or the inner rod component of bacterial type iii secretion systems (e.g., salmonella prgj). in some instances, ... | 2011 | 21282416 |
| bacterial pathogenesis: legionella effector under friendly fire. | | 2011 | 21287709 |
| comparisons of clinical characters in patients with pneumococcal and legionella pneumonia. | the etiology of pneumonia is usually unknown, but the availability of urinary pneumococcal and legionella antigen tests can improve the diagnostic yield. our aim was to provide clinical clues to help clinicians perform the appropriate urinary antigen tests. | 2010 | 21291849 |
| anti-legionella activity of staphylococcal hemolytic peptides. | a collection of various staphylococci was screened for their anti-legionella activity. nine of the tested strains were found to secrete anti-legionella compounds. the culture supernatants of the strains, described in the literature to produce hemolytic peptides, were successfully submitted to a two step purification process. all the purified compounds, except one, corresponded to previously described hemolytic peptides and were not known for their anti-legionella activity. by comparison of the m ... | 2011 | 21291938 |
| morphological responses of legionella pneumophila biofilm to nanoparticle exposure. | abstract legionella pneumophila is a pathogenic bacterium that forms biofilms in natural and anthropogenic habitats. this feature not only facilitates colonization but also limits the effectiveness of biocides. l. pneumophila was exposed to three sizes of citrate-capped gold nanospheres in both planktonic and biofilm stages. tem micrographs indicated that gold nanoparticles (aunps) adsorbed to the bacterial cell surface, were absorbed into the cells, aggregated within the cells, and integrated i ... | 2011 | 21294606 |
| wet cooling systems as a source of sporadic legionnaires' disease: a geographical analysis of data for england and wales, 1996-2006. | background the source of infection for most sporadic cases of legionnaires' disease remains unknown. this study aims quantify the relationship between cases and wet cooling systems (wcs), a potential source of aerosolised legionella bacteria. methods the study analysed data on 1163 sporadic, community-acquired cases of legionnaires' disease in england and wales with onset between 1996 and 2006, and 11630 postcode controls randomly sampled in proportion to population size and matched on region, a ... | 2011 | 21296905 |
| efficient generation of unmarked deletions in legionella pneumophila. | unmarked gene deletions facilitate studies of legionella pneumophila multicomponent processes, such as motility and exonuclease activity. for this purpose, frt-flanked alleles constructed in escherichia coli using ?-red recombinase were transferred to l. pneumophila by natural transformation. resistance cassettes were then efficiently excised using the flp site-specific recombinase encoded on a plasmid that is readily lost. | 2011 | 21296953 |
| ofloxacin: new applications for the prevention of urinary tract infections in renal graft recipients. | c. rafat, s. vimont, p.y. ancel, y.c. xu-dubois, l. mesnard, n. ouali, m. denis, a. vandewalle, e. rondeau, a. hertig. ofloxacin: new applications for the prevention of urinary tract infections in renal graft recipients transpl infect dis 2011: 13: 344-352. all rights reserved abstract: background. urinary tract infections (utis), the most common form of bacterial infection in kidney transplant recipients, recently have been demonstrated to be detrimental for long-term graft outcome. therefore, ... | 2011 | 21299776 |
| amoebae and legionella pneumophila in saline environments. | amoeboid protists that harbor bacterial pathogens are of significant interest as potential reservoirs of disease-causing organisms in the environment, but little is known about them in marine and other saline environments. we enriched amoeba cultures from sediments from four sites in the new england estuarine system of mt. hope bay, massachusetts and from sediments from six sites in the great salt lake, utah. cultures of amoebae were enriched using both minimal- and non-nutrient agar plates, mad ... | 2011 | 21301113 |
| oligonucleotides stimulate genomic alterations of legionella pneumophila. | genetic variation generates diversity in all kingdoms of life. the corresponding mechanisms can also be harnessed for laboratory studies of fundamental cellular processes. here we report that oligonucleotides (oligos) generate mutations on the legionella pneumophila chromosome by a mechanism that requires homologous dna, but not reca, rada or any known phage recombinase. instead we propose that dna replication contributes, as oligo-induced mutagenesis required = 21 nucleotides of homology, was s ... | 2011 | 21306445 |
| molecular analysis of bacterial communities in uranium ores and surrounding soils from banduhurang open cast uranium mine, india: a comparative study. | bacterial community structure of heavy metal rich- uranium ores and surrounding soils was explored using 16s rrna gene based clone library analysis and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (dgge) to provide baseline microbial diversity data on autochthonous communities. sequence analysis of major ribotypes and/or dgge bands revealed proteobacteria and acidobacteria as the two most frequently present bacterial phyla across the samples, although relative abundance of each phyla and identity of ... | 2011 | 21308598 |
| prevention of health care-acquired pneumonia and transmission of mycobacterium tuberculosis in health care settings. | health care-acquired pneumonia (hap) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. these infections most frequently arise from a patient's indigenous flora, although occasionally they result from exposure to environmental pathogens such as legionella and aspergillus. this article reviews infection prevention strategies to reduce the incidence of hap. successful implementation of these prevention strategies usually requires a multidisciplinary approach and standardization of protocols. ... | 2010 | 21315997 |
| parameters predictive of legionella contamination in hot water systems: association with trace elements and heterotrophic plate counts. | the contamination of hot water samples with legionella spp. was studied in relation to temperature, total hardness, trace element concentrations (iron, zinc, manganese, and copper) and heterotrophic plate counts (hpc) at both 22 and 37 °c. factor analysis and receiver operating characteristic (roc) curves were used to establish the cut-off of water parameters as predictors for legionella contamination. legionella spp. was isolated in 194 out of 408 samples (47.5%), with legionella pneumophila be ... | 2011 | 21316728 |
| protein kinase legk2 is a type iv secretion system effector involved in endoplasmic reticulum recruitment and intracellular replication of legionella pneumophila. | legionella pneumophila is the etiological agent of legionnaires' disease. crucial to the pathogenesis of this intracellular pathogen is its ability to subvert host cell defenses, permitting intracellular replication in specialized vacuoles within host cells. the dot/icm type iv secretion system (t4ss), which translocates a large number of bacterial effectors into host cell, is absolutely required for rerouting the legionella phagosome. many legionella effectors display distinctive eukaryotic dom ... | 2011 | 21321072 |
| quantification of viable legionella pneumophila cells using propidium monoazide combined with quantitative pcr. | one of the greatest challenges of implementing fast molecular detection methods as part of legionella surveillance systems is to limit detection to live cells. in this work, a protocol for sample treatment with propidium monoazide (pma) in combination with quantitative pcr (qpcr) has been optimized and validated for l. pneumophila as an alternative of the currently used time-consuming culture method. results from pma-qpcr were compared with culture isolation and traditional qpcr. under the condi ... | 2011 | 21329735 |
| [diversity of legionella pneumophila in cooling towers: coculture kinetics and virulence studies]. | legionella pneumophila (l. pneumophila) was isolated from three cooling towers involved in three community outbreaks of legionnaires´ disease. each cooling tower had two different chromosomal dna subtypes. however, only one matched identically to the clinical strains. to try to understand why only one of the environmental strains caused clinical cases we investigated the intrinsic virulence of these strains. | 2011 | 21339025 |
| competitive pcr quantitation utilizing a microtiter plate based format for the detection of pcr products. | in microbiology, the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) has become an important tool for the analysis of clinical samples. for example, it led to the detection of hepatitis-b virus dna (hbv-dna) in patients with serological patterns not previously associated with active infection (1). pcr-based assays are also more sensitive than conventional tests for the detection of many other infective agents, like hepatitis-c virus (hcv), herpes viruses, or legionella pneumophila (2). in some cases, however, t ... | 1999 | 21340877 |
| characterisation of legionella pneumophila phospholipases and their impact on host cells. | phospholipases are a diverse class of enzymes produced both by eukaryotic hosts and their pathogens. major insights into action pathways of bacterial phospholipases have been provided during the last years. on the one hand bacterial phospholipases act as potent membrane destructors and on the other hand they manipulate and initiate host signalling paths, such as chemokine expression or the inflammatory cascade. reaction products of bacterial phospholipases may potentially influence many more hos ... | 2011 | 21342713 |
| [methodic bases for providing the population and potentially dangerous water objects with biosafety against the pathogens of legionellosis]. | the paper considers the key aspects of the ecology of legionella determining the increasing role of the pathogen in the emergence of human infectious diseases in postinduatrial society. formation of legionella biofilms on potentially dangerous water objects with possible further aerosol or aspiration transmission of the pathogen may lead to large epidemic outbreaks and sporadic cases of the infection. based on international experience and the results of their studies, the authors propose a curre ... | 2010 | 21344701 |
| retraction. inhibition of akt/gsk3ß signalling pathway by legionella pneumophila is involved in induction of t-cell apoptosis. | | 2011 | 21348858 |
| [evaluation of biological indicators of hygienic quality in modern dental clinics with a high perceived quality in catania (italy)]. | a study was performed to evaluate safety and hygienic quality levels in dental clinics in catania (sicily, italy). microbiological checks of air samples, surfaces and water were performed in seven modern dental clinics with a high perceived quality of care. in total, 16 active dental units were present in the clinics included in the study. water samples were obtained from dental air-water syringes and directly from the water supply and analyzed to determine aerobic mesophilic bacteria counts, co ... | 2010 | 21358774 |
| the professional phagocyte dictyostelium discoideum as a model host for bacterial pathogens. | the use of simple hosts such as dictyostelium discoideum in the study of host pathogen interactions offers a number of advantages and has steadily increased in recent years. infection-specific genes can often only be studied in a very limited way in man and even in the mouse model their analysis is usually expensive, time consuming and technically challenging or sometimes even impossible. in contrast, their functional analysis in d. discoideum and other simple model organisms is often easier, fa ... | 2011 | 21366522 |
| dsba2 (27 kda com1-like protein) of legionella pneumophila catalyses extracytoplasmic disulphide-bond formation in proteins including the dot/icm type iv secretion system. | in gram-negative bacteria, thiol oxidoreductases catalyse the formation of disulphide bonds (dsb) in extracytoplasmic proteins. in this study, we sought to identify dsb-forming proteins required for assembly of macromolecular structures in legionella pneumophila. here we describe two dsb-forming proteins, one annotated as dsba1 and the other annotated as a 27 kda outer membrane protein similar to com1 of coxiella burnetii, which we designate as dsba2. both proteins are predicted to be periplasmi ... | 2011 | 21375592 |
| [rate and level of contamination of potentially dangerous water supply facilities in moscow region by legionella pneumophila]. | to assess rate and level of contamination by legionella pneumophila of cooling water systems in industrial facilities as well as hot water supply systems of administrative buildings in moscow region. | 2010 | 21381372 |
| legionella pneumophila type ii secretion dampens the cytokine response of infected macrophages and epithelia. | the type ii secretion (t2s) system of legionella pneumophila is required for the ability of the bacterium to grow within the lungs of a/j mice. by utilizing mutants lacking t2s (lsp), we now document that t2s promotes the intracellular infection of both multiple types of macrophages and lung epithelia. following infection of macrophages, lsp mutants (but not a complemented mutant) elicited significantly higher levels of interleukin 6 (il-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-+¦), il-10, il-8, il- ... | 2011 | 21383054 |
| secreted bacterial effectors that inhibit host protein synthesis are critical for induction of the innate immune response to virulent legionella pneumophila. | the intracellular bacterial pathogen legionella pneumophila causes an inflammatory pneumonia called legionnaires' disease. for virulence, l. pneumophila requires a dot/icm type iv secretion system that translocates bacterial effectors to the host cytosol. l. pneumophila lacking the dot/icm system is recognized by toll-like receptors (tlrs), leading to a canonical nf-+¦b-dependent transcriptional response. in addition, l. pneumophila expressing a functional dot/icm system potently induces unique ... | 2011 | 21390206 |
| diagnosis and epidemiology of infections caused by legionella spp. | the legionnaires' disease (ld) bacillus was first recognized following a large outbreak of pneumonia at a convention of american military veterans in 1976 (1). in the context of other microbial infections, this is a relatively recent event. since then, considerable progress has been made in the understanding of legionellae and the epidemiology of the infections they cause. more than 40 species of legionella have been identified and described, and these organisms have been found to be widely dist ... | 1998 | 21390750 |
| death or survival from invasive pneumococcal disease in scotland: associations with serogroups and multilocus sequence types. | we describe associations between death from invasive pneumococcal disease (ipd) and particular serogroups and sequence types (sts) determined by multilocus sequence typing (mlst) using data from scotland. all ipd episodes where blood or cerebrospinal fluid (csf) culture isolates were referred to the scottish haemophilus, legionella, meningococcal and pneumococcal reference laboratory (shlmprl) from january 1992 to february 2007 were matched to death certification records by the general register ... | 2011 | 21393453 |
| sporadic legionnaires' disease: the role of domestic electric hot-water tanks. | summarysporadic community-acquired legionellosis (scal) can be acquired through contaminated aerosols from residential potable water. electricity-dependent hot-water tanks are widely used in the province of quebec (canada) and have been shown to be frequently contaminated with legionella spp. we prospectively investigated the homes of culture-proven scal patients from quebec in order to establish the proportion of patients whose domestic potable hot-water system was contaminated with the same le ... | 2011 | 21396146 |
| detection of mycoplasma pneumoniae, chlamydia pneumoniae, and legionella spp. in clinical specimens using a single-tube multiplex real-time pcr assay. | a multiplex real-time pcr assay for the detection of mycoplasma pneumoniae (mp181), chlamydia (chlamydophila) pneumoniae (cp-arg), legionella spp. (pan-leg), and the human rnase p (rnase p) gene was developed for rapid testing of atypical bacterial respiratory pathogens in clinical specimens. this method uses 4 distinct hydrolysis probes to detect 3 leading causes of community-acquired pneumonia. the assay was evaluated for specificity and sensitivity by testing against 35 related organisms, a d ... | 2011 | 21397428 |
| legionella nagasakiensis sp. nov., isolated from water samples in japan and australia and from a patient with pneumonia in the united states. | a novel legionella species was identified based on 16s rrna and mip (macrophage infectivity potentiator) gene sequencing analysis, cellular fatty acids, isoprenoid quinones, biochemical reactions, antigens, and quantitative dna-dna hybridization. the strain cdc-1796-jap-e(t) was isolated from well water at the nagassaki municipal medical center, japan. two strains, cdc-3041-aus-e and cdc-3558-aus-e, were isolated from water samples during an outbreak of legionellosis in south australia. the stra ... | 2011 | 21398499 |
| community-acquired pneumonia due to legionella pneumophila, the utility of pcr, and a review of the antibiotics used. | there are at least 40 types of legionella bacteria, half of which are capable of producing disease in humans. the legionella pneumophila bacterium, the root cause of legionnaires' disease, causes 90% of legionellosis cases. | 2011 | 21403787 |
| comprehensive identification of protein substrates of the dot/icm type iv transporter of legionella pneumophila. | a large number of proteins transferred by the legionella pneumophila dot/icm system have been identified by various strategies. with no exceptions, these strategies are based on one or more characteristics associated with the tested proteins. given the high level of diversity exhibited by the identified proteins, it is possible that some substrates have been missed in these screenings. in this study, we took a systematic method to survey the l. pneumophila genome by testing hypothetical orfs lar ... | 2011 | 21408005 |
| sequencing illustrates the transcriptional response of legionella pneumophila during infection and identifies seventy novel small non-coding rnas. | second generation sequencing has prompted a number of groups to re-interrogate the transcriptomes of several bacterial and archaeal species. one of the central findings has been the identification of complex networks of small non-coding rnas that play central roles in transcriptional regulation in all growth conditions and for the pathogen's interaction with and survival within host cells. legionella pneumophila is a gram-negative facultative intracellular human pathogen with a distinct biphasic ... | 2011 | 21408607 |
| assessing maintenance of evaporative cooling systems in legionellosis outbreaks. | this study was designed to conduct systematic reviews of existing evaporative cooling system maintenance guidelines and of published legionnaires' disease outbreaks to determine what, if any, maintenance practices were in place at the time of the disease outbreaks and then to contrast the reported practices with the published guidelines for evaporative cooling systems. for the first review, similarities in the reported recommendations were assessed; in the second review, any reported information ... | 2011 | 21416443 |
| interaction of legionella pneumophila and helicobacter pylori with bacterial species isolated from drinking water biofilms. | it is well established that legionella pneumophila is a waterborne pathogen; by contrast, the mode of helicobacter pylori transmission remains unknown but water seems to play an important role. this work aims to study the influence of five microorganisms isolated from drinking water biofilms on the survival and integration of both of these pathogens into biofilms. | 2011 | 21418578 |
| adult outpatient experience of the 2009 h1n1 pandemic: clinical course, pathogens, and evaluation of case definitions. | the aim was to describe causative agents and clinical characteristics in adult outpatients with upper airway symptoms during the 2009 h1n1 pandemic and to evaluate case definitions that are used in clinical practice. | 2011 | 21420427 |
| [adequacy of the admissions and care provided to the patients with community-acquired pneumonia]. | the purpose of this study has been to know the adequacy of the hospital admissions of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (cap), applying the fine modified forecast classification rule and if patient care is performed in accordance with the indicators for quality by the infectious diseases society of america (idsa) recommendations. | 2011 | 21420665 |
| lcl of legionella pneumophila is an immunogenic gag binding adhesin that promotes interactions with lung epithelial cells and plays a crucial role in biofilm formation. | legionellosis is mostly caused by legionella pneumophila and is defined by a severe respiratory illness with a case fatality rate ranging from 5 to 80%. in vitro and in vivo, interactions of l. pneumophila with lung epithelial cells are mediated by the sulfated glycosaminoglycans (gags) of the host extracellular matrix. in this study, we have identified several legionella heparin binding proteins. we have shown that one of these proteins, designated lcl, is a polymorphic adhesin of l. pneumophil ... | 2011 | 21422183 |
| legionella--fighting a resourceful foe. | in a presentation given at a recent iheem seminar, "total water management within healthcare premises", held at london's royal society of arts, david harper, one of the uk's leading independent experts in legionella, waterborne contamination prevention, and emergency response, described how the bacterium and its effects were first "discovered", offered valuable advice on how to minimise the risk of its growth and spread, and highlighted some of the alarming findings he had seen throughout a long ... | 2011 | 21425711 |
| [genetic diversity of legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 in hospital water distribution systems in shanghai]. | to classify legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (lp1) isolated from the water distribution systems in hospitals of shanghai by using genotying methods, and therefore to explore the genetic relationship between different genotypes. | 2011 | 21426726 |
| controlled and oriented immobilization of protein by site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acid. | immobilization of proteins in a functionally active form and proper orientation is crucial for effective surface-based analysis of proteins. here we present a general method for controlled and oriented immobilization of protein by site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acid and click chemistry. the utility and potential of this method was demonstrated by applying it to the analysis of interaction between a pathogenic protein drra of legionella pneumophila and its binding partner rab1 of ... | 2011 | 21428414 |
| hepatocyte growth factor levels in legionella pneumonia: a retrospective study. | hepatocyte growth factor (hgf) is known to be involved in the resolution of pulmonary inflammation and repair of acute lung injury. legionella pneumonia is sometimes complicated by acute lung injury. our study aimed to determine the role of serum hgf levels in legionella pneumonia. | 2011 | 21429184 |
| effects of japan sea proper water on the growth oflegionella pneumophila, escherichia coli, andstaphylococcus aureus. | to assess whetherlegionella pneumophila serogroup 1 and serogroup 6,escherichia coli, andstaphylococcus aureus can survive in japan sea proper water (jspw). | 2005 | 21432125 |
| multifaceted effects of synthetic tlr2 ligand and legionella pneumophilia on treg-mediated suppression of t cell activation. | regulatory t cells (treg) play a crucial role in maintaining immune homeostasis and self-tolerance. the immune suppressive effects of tregs should however be limited in case effective immunity is required against pathogens or cancer cells. we previously found that the toll-like receptor 2 (tlr2) agonist, pam3cyssk4, directly stimulated tregs to expand and temporarily abrogate their suppressive capabilities. in this study, we evaluate the effect of pam3cyssk4 and legionella pneumophila, a natural ... | 2011 | 21435210 |
| a rapid detection method using flow cytometry to monitor the risk of legionella in bath water. | legionella species are the causative agents of human legionellosis, and bathing facilities have been identified as the sources of infection in several outbreaks in japan. researchers in japan have recently reported evidence of significant associations between bacterial counts and the occurrence of legionella in bathing facilities and in a hot tub model. a convenient and quantitative bacterial enumeration method is therefore required as an indicator of legionella contamination or disinfection to ... | 2011 | 21443913 |
| [molecular typing of legionella pneumophila isolates from china with pulsed field gel electrophoresis.] | objective: to analyze the molecular types of legionella (l.) pneumophila strains isolated in china, and to develop the pulsenet-china database of l. pneumophila. methods: pulsed field gel electrophoresis (pfge) was used to analyze 262 l. pneumophila strains collected from 11 provinces between 2004 and 2009 in china. different kinds of genomic dna in different l. pneumophila strains were isolated and separated after digesting with asc i. bionumerics software was used to analysis the pfge fingerpr ... | 2011 | 21457667 |
| diagnostic tests for agents of community-acquired pneumonia. | lower respiratory infections are the major cause of death due to infectious disease in the united states and worldwide. most forms of community-acquired pneumonia (cap) are treatable, and there is consensus that the selection of antimicrobial agents is notably simplified if the pathogen is defined. the rich history of cap studies in the prepenicillin era showed that an etiologic diagnosis was established in >90% of cases, but the 2009 data from medicare indicate that a probable pathogen is now d ... | 2011 | 21460288 |
| controlling legionella in hospital drinking water: an evidence-based review of disinfection methods. | hospital-acquired legionnaires' disease is directly linked to the presence of legionella in hospital drinking water. disinfecting the drinking water system is an effective preventive measure. the efficacy of any disinfection measures should be validated in a stepwise fashion from laboratory assessment to a controlled multiple-hospital evaluation over a prolonged period of time. in this review, we evaluate systemic disinfection methods (copper-silver ionization, chlorine dioxide, monochloramine, ... | 2011 | 21460472 |
| legionnaires' disease with facial nerve palsy. | legionnaires' disease is primarily a pneumonic process caused by legionella pneumophilia, a gram-negative aerobic bacillus but also has multiple system involvement. the most common manifestation is encephalopathy suggesting a generalized brain dysfunction but focal neurological manifestations have been reported. we report a patient with legionella pneumonia associated with cerebellar dysfunction and unilateral facial nerve weakness. 51-year-old previously healthy male presented with shortness of ... | 2011 | 21461048 |
| evaluation of the protective immunity of the legionella pneumophila recombinant protein flaa/momps/pile in an a/j mouse model. | to investigate the protect effects of the recombinant protein flaa/momps/pile against legionella pneumophila (l. pneumophila), the coding sequences of the three proteins were optimized by dna star software firstly, cloned, expressed by escherichia coli bl21, and purified. to give an enhanced the immunological response, the proteins were linked together with (linker) or without a linker insert (nlinker) and were purified from e. coli bl21. the a/j mouse model was used to determine the level of th ... | 2011 | 21463682 |
| in vitro and in vivo profiles of ach-702, an isothiazoloquinolone, against bacterial pathogens. | ach-702, a novel isothiazoloquinolone (itq), was assessed for antibacterial activity against a panel of gram-positive and gram-negative clinical isolates and found to possess broad-spectrum activity, especially against antibiotic-resistant gram-positive strains, including methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa). for gram-negative bacteria, ach-702 showed exceptional potency against haemophilus influenzae, moraxella catarrhalis, and a neisseria sp. but was less active against members o ... | 2011 | 21464250 |
| clinical impact of combined viral and bacterial infection in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. | new methods for identifying respiratory pathogens have led to several reports of a high yield of mixed infections in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (cap). the clinical impact of these findings has, however, not been fully evaluated. we aimed to compare patients with a pure bacterial etiology with those with findings of both bacteria and virus regarding severity of illness and length of hospital stay. | 2011 | 21466255 |
| polyreactivity of monoclonal antibodies made against human erythrocyte membranes with various pathogenic bacteria. | glycophorins comprise the major sialoglycoproteins of the human erythrocyte membrane. several years ago we described a murine monoclonal antibody (mab), designated 124,d-7 (igm), developed by in vitro immunization with human erythrocyte membranes as antigen. we found the mab reacted with a neuraminidase-dependent epitope on glycophorin a. recent findings using elisa with various bacteria as coating antigens have demonstrated strong cross-reactions of mab 124,d-7 with some bacteria like legionell ... | 2011 | 21466280 |
| [epidemiology and aetiology of community-acquired pneumonia (cap)]. | community-acquired pneumonia is a frequent disease. case-fatality rate and incidence are increasing with age. the german nation-wide competence network capnetz presents reliable data on aetiology and course of the disease, based on more than 9000 prospectively observed patients. this review discusses current capnetz-publication and their impact on daily clinical practice. the most frequent isolated pathogen isolated was streptococcus pneumoniae. according to capnetz results, the importance of at ... | 2011 | 21469047 |
| detection of microorganisms in exhaled breath condensate during acute exacerbations of copd. | summary at a glance: exhaled breath condensate (ebc) is a noninvasive method to assess airway biology. the aim of the present study was to evaluate ebc for the detection of microbial nucleic acids during acute exacerbations of copd (aecopd). bacterial nucleic acids can be identified in ebcs of copd patients with exacerbations, however, the results differed significantly from those of sputum. abstract: background and objective: one hallmark of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd) is colo ... | 2011 | 21470340 |
| hyperoxia accelerates fas-mediated signaling and apoptosis in the lungs of legionella pneumophila pneumonia. | abstract: | 2011 | 21470397 |
| legionella longbeachae and legionellosis. | reported cases of legionellosis attributable to legionella longbeachae infection have increased worldwide. in australia and new zealand, l. longbeachae has been a known cause of legionellosis since the late 1980s. all cases for which a source was confirmed were associated with potting mixes and composts. unlike the situation with other legionella spp., l. longbeachae-contaminated water systems in the built environment that cause disease have not been reported. spatially and temporally linked out ... | 2011 | 21470444 |
| [non-traumatic rupture of the spleen.] | background: a non-traumatic rupture of the spleen is a rare, serious condition with a high mortality rate. this sort of rupture can occur in a healthy patient or in patients with an underlying disease such as an infection or a haematological disorder. case description: here we describe a 52-year-old man who had legionella pneumonia and suffered a spontaneous rupture of the spleen. he had to undergo a splenectomy following an unsuccessful embolisation of the lienal artery. he recovered. in the se ... | 2011 | 21486505 |
| pyrosequencing demonstrated complex microbial communities in a membrane filtration system for a drinking water treatment plant. | microbial community composition in a pilot-scale microfiltration plant for drinking water treatment was investigated using high-throughput pyrosequencing technology. sequences of 16s rrna gene fragments were recovered from raw water, membrane tank particulate matter, and membrane biofilm, and used for taxonomic assignments, estimations of diversity, and the identification of potential pathogens. greater bacterial diversity was observed in each sample (1,133-1,731 operational taxonomic units) tha ... | 2011 | 21502735 |
| sitafloxacin: in bacterial infections. | sitafloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibacterial with in vitro activity against a broad range of gram-positive and -negative bacteria, including anaerobic bacteria, as well as against atypical pathogens. it is approved in japan for use in a number of bacterial infections caused by sitafloxacin-susceptible strains of staphylococcus spp., streptococcus pneumoniae, other streptococcus spp., enterococcus spp., moraxella catarrhalis, escherichia coli, citrobacter spp., klebsiella spp., enterobacter sp ... | 2011 | 21504249 |
| chlorine dioxide for legionella spp. disinfection: a danger for cross-linked polyethylene pipes? | | 2011 | 21507519 |
| the versatile legionella effector protein drra. | the human pathogen legionella pneumophila is a bacterium that infects human cells and interferes with intracellular signaling. the legionella protein drra is one of the numerous effectors that the bacterium translocates into the host cytosol. drra binds to the legionella containing vacuole (lcv), an organelle in which legionella survives and replicates, and recruits and activates the vesicular trafficking regulator rab1 to redirect vesicular trafficking between the endoplasmatic reticulum and th ... | 2011 | 21509184 |
| [pancreatitis and dissociated cholestasis: an unusual manifestation in legionella pneumophila induced-infections.] | | 2011 | 21514927 |
| use of nested polymerase chain reaction based on sequence-based typing of clinical samples to determine the source of infection for hospital-acquired legionnaires' disease. | the source of infection of a hospital-acquired legionnaires' disease case was determined for the first time by nested polymerase chain reaction based on sequence-based typing. the typing was performed directly on dna extracted from tissue samples, allowing a rapid epidemiological correlation with environmental isolates. | 2011 | 21515984 |
| [legionellosis in ul'ianovsk region]. | the increasingly frequent introduction of new infectious diseases poses the problem of their prophylaxis, prevention of secondary distribution and establishment. current epidemiologic situation is characterized by the occurrence of rare infections including legionellosis. data on the prevalence of this disease in ulyanovsk region are presented for the period from 2008 to the first half of 2009. the patients were infected during their hajj pilgrimage to saudi arabia. the clinical picture resemble ... | 2011 | 21516771 |
| contamination of the cold water distribution system of health care facilities by legionella pneumophila: do we know the true dimension? | | 2011 | 21527132 |
| clinical, epidemiological, and etiological profile of inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia at a general hospital in the sumaré microregion of brazil. | objective: to analyze the clinical, etiological, and epidemiological aspects of community-acquired pneumonia (cap) in hospitalized individuals. methods: we prospectively studied 66 patients (> 14 years of age) with cap admitted to the hospital estadual sumaré, located in the sumaré microregion of brazil, between october of 2005 and september of 2007. we collected data related to clinical history, physical examination, pneumonia severity index (psi) scores, and laboratory tests (blood culture; sp ... | 2011 | 21537656 |
| isolation and identification of legionella and their host amoebae from weak alkaline carbonate spring water using a culture method combined with pcr. | legionella were detected with the direct dna extraction method, legionella culture method, and free-living amoebae (fla) culture method from weak alkaline carbonate spring water in taiwan. moreover, we also investigated the existence of acanthamoeba, hartmannella, and naegleria, ubiquitous fla in aquatic environments, to identify the correlations between existing legionella. this study reports detecting legionella in 15 of the 51 weak alkaline carbonate spring water samples (29.4%). this work al ... | 2011 | 21537990 |
| screening-level assays for potentially human-infectious environmental legionella spp. | in spite of the fact that various legionella species are isolated from nonclinical water settings, there is no standard method to determine whether environmental legionellae may be infectious to humans. here we provide a screening-level approach based on an in vivo murine (a/j mouse) model and three in vitro proliferation assays using acanthamoeba polyphaga, and thp-1 human and j774 murine macrophage cell lines to identify potentially human-infectious legionellae. as an initial demonstration the ... | 2011 | 21538239 |
| whole-body imaging of infection using fluorescence. | optical imaging is emerging as a powerful tool to study physiological, neurological, oncological, cell biological, molecular, developmental, immunological, and infectious processes. this unit describes the use of fluorescent reporters for biological organisms, components, or events. we describe the application of fluorescence imaging to examination of infectious processes, in particular subcutaneous and pulmonary bacterial infections, but the same approaches are applicable to nearly any infectio ... | 2011 | 21538304 |
| protein expression, crystallization and preliminary x-ray crystallographic studies of lida from legionella pneumophila. | lida, a translocated substrate of the legionella pneumophila dot/icm type iv secretion system, is associated with maintenance of bacterial integrity and interferes with the early secretory pathway. however, the precise mechanism of lida in these processes remains elusive. to further investigate the structure and function of lida, the full-length protein was successfully expressed in escherichia coli and purified. lida was crystallized using sitting-drop vapour diffusion and diffracted to a resol ... | 2011 | 21543880 |
| deletion of the murine scavenger receptor cd68. | scavenger receptors (scrs) are a structurally unrelated family of receptors with the ability to bind modified low density lipoproteins (ldls), as well as a broad range of polyanionic ligands. cd68, whose expression is restricted to mononuclear phagocytes, is a unique scr family member, owing to its lamp-like domain and predominant endosomal distribution. knockout mice were generated to directly evaluate the role murine cd68 may play in oxidized ldl (ox-ldl) uptake. however, cd68[-/-] macrophages ... | 2011 | 21572087 |