- Volume 16, Issue 2, 1983
Volume 16, Issue 2, 1983
- Short Articles
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Biological activities of the lipopolysaccharide and lipid A from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus
H. Brade and C. GalanosSUMMARYThe biological activities of the lipopolysaccharide and the lipid A of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus were investigated. Although the lipid A of A. calcoaceticus exhibits unusual features in its chemical composition, its toxic and other biological properties are similar to those of enterobacterial endotoxin.
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Association between histocompatability antigens (HLA) and nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus
More LessSUMMARYWe investigated the association between phenotypes of histocompatability antigen (HLA) and nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in two populations—healthy laboratory workers and patients attending an outpatients’ clinic. When data from the two sources were pooled, it was evident that the presence of HLA-DR3 was associated with carriage, and the presence of HLA-DR2, HLA-DR1 and HLA-Bw35 with lack of carriage. However, since each person may have two antigenic specificities encoded at the HLA-A, the HLA-B, and the HLA-DR loci, the carriage of the organism was analysed for paired combinations of the more frequent phenotypes. For example, the lack of carriage evident with HLA-DR1 was more marked with the DR1-A11 and DR1-B7 combinations while the predisposition towards carriage shown with HLA-DR3 was more marked with the DR3-DR5 combination. The importance of the analysis of antigen combinations is discussed in relation to association of single antigens with carriage of S. aureus.
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The urinary bacterial flora in patients with three types of urinary tract diversion
More LessSUMMARYThere is known to be a high risk of malignancy at uretero-colic anastomoses and it has been postulated that bacteria catalyse both the local formation and the activation of carcinogens such as N-nitrosamines. If this theory is correct, then the risk of malignancy should be greatest when the prevalence of mixed urinary tract infection is greatest.
Bacterial culture was performed on samples of urine obtained from 56 patients with three forms of urinary tract diversion: ureterosigmoidostomy, isolated ileal and colon conduits. As expected, the rectal urine of all patients with a ureterosigmoidostomy had a rich bacterial flora. However, 11 of the 15 patients with ileal conduits (73%) had significant mixed growths of bacteria in the loop urine, whereas only six out of 16 colon loop urines (37.5%) were infected, all being monobacterial infections. The implications of these bacteriological findings for carcinogenesis associated with urinary diversion are discussed.
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Duration of hepatitis B surface antigenaemia and its correlation with the histopathological and clinical outcome in acute and chronic hepatitis
SUMMARYThe persistence of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in 156 patients with histopathologically proven acute viral hepatitis and 27 patients with chronic active hepatitis was assessed and correlated with their clinical and histopathological outcome; 1387 sequential serum samples were tested for HBsAg and its antibody (anti HBs). In the group with acute viral hepatitis, 86% of the patients who recovered, 67% of the patients who deteriorated histopathologically and 67% of the fatal cases carried HBsAg for up to 8 weeks only. While 56% of patients with chronic active hepatitis harboured HBsAg for 13-80 weeks, only 10% of the group with acute viral hepatitis did so. Of patients with chronic active hepatitis 37% deteriorated to cirrhosis and 11% died. Diverse anti-HBs-response patterns are reported and may have clinical significance.
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Detection of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin by tissue culture and double-gel diffusion methods
More LessSUMMARYCulture filtrates of four enterotoxin-producing strains of Clostridium perfringens type A produced morphological changes in cells of 10 of 12 established mammalian cell lines tested, and particularly Vero (African green-monkey kidney) and MDCK (dog kidney) cells. Double-gel diffusion and Vero-cell tests detected enterotoxin in culture filtrates of, respectively, 29 (28%) and 56 (54%) of 103 strains of C. perfringens tested. The feasibility of cell-culture assays for the routine detection of C. perfringens enterotoxin is indicated.
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Separation of capsulate and non-capsulate Bacteroides fragilis on a discontinuous density gradient
More LessSUMMARYA discontinuous density gradient procedure was used successfully to separate capsulate and non-capsulate cells of strains of Bacteroides fragilis. Bacteria from the capsulate fraction retained their capsules on subculture, but non-capsulate cells reverted to the mixed phenotype.
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- Articles
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Comparison of enzyme immunoassay with radioimmunoassay for the detection of hepatitis B surface antigen
More LessSUMMARYA direct solid-phase enzyme immunoassay (Auszyme I) and a direct solid-phase radioimmunoassay (Ausria II) for detection of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were compared in tests with a panel of 347 human sera. Compared with RIA, EIA showed a sensitivity of 98% with 153 HBsAg-positive sera and a specificity of 99% with 194 HBsAg-negative sera. Sera that gave false negative and false positive results by EIA were re-examined by both RIA and EIA to confirm the initial result. Use of less than the recommended volume of serum for EIA produced results inconsistent with RIA in four of 27 sera examined. Quantitative correlation between RIA and EIA was low (r = 0.691). Positive controls used for EIA showed considerable variation from day to day, although intra-assay variation was much less. The sensitivity of the EIA method examined compares favourably with previously published EIA studies and with the RIA used in this study. Auszyme I EIA is a sensitive and specific third generation test for HBsAg that offers several advantages over currently used RIA techniques.
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Gentamicin and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in dublin hospitals: clinical and laboratory studies
More LessSUMMARYStrains of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to gentamicin and methicillin first appeared in Dublin hospitals in 1976, and rapidly became widely disseminated. The number of patients infected or colonised increased throughout the period of study, especially in 1979 and 1980. Most isolates were from burns, surgical wounds and traumatic skin lesions. During the 12 months after first isolation of these multiply antibiotic resistant strains, colonisation or minor infection was the usual event. Invasive infection such as bacteraemia, deep wound sepsis and osteomyelitis was rarely seen. Subsequently, as the number of patients from whom these organisms were isolated increased, bacteraemia and other severe infection became more common. The predominant phage type of S. aureus changed with the progression of the outbreak. Isolates of different phage type were sometimes found in a single lesion, or in different sites in one patient. By the second half of 1980, most isolates were untypable or typed only with an experimental phage.
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Gentamicin and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in dublin hospitals: molecular studies
More LessSUMMARYA large number of Staphylococcus aureus strains resistant to gentamicin, methicillin and other antibiotics, isolated in several Dublin hospitals during a 4-year period, were screened for plasmid DNA. Isolates assigned to four principal phage groups showed uniform plasmid profiles. A plasmid of mol. wt 21.0 × 106 encoding penicillin resistance was present in all isolates screened. A tetracycline resistance plasmid of mol. wt 24.0 × 106 was present in 40% of isolates of phage types 90 and 5/47/54/84/85 whereas a plasmid of mol. wt 3.0 × 106 was responsible for tetracycline resistance in isolates of phage types 77 and 85. Aminoglycoside, methicillin and erythromycin resistances were apparently not encoded on plasmids. Gentamicin resistance was transduced at low frequency between several strains of S. aureus and the resistance phenotype was due, in part at least, to the production of an inactivating enzyme.
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Faecal carriage of aerobic gram-negative bacilli and drug resistance of Escherichia coli in different age-groups in dutch urban communities
More LessSUMMARYFaecal carriage rates for aerobic gram-negative bacilli and for antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli were determined in samples of the Dutch urban population. Of the 741 people studied, 64 were under 1 year old (infants), 53 were 1-5 years old, and there were approximately 200 in each of the age-ranges 6-17 years, 18-49 years and 50-80 years. Carriage rates of E. coli were similar (87-93%) in all age groups, but Klebsiella and Enterobacter species were found more often in specimens from infants and young children than in those from older people. E. coli strains resistant to tetracycline, ampicillin, or sulphamethoxazole or to any one or more of them were detected in 42%, 26%, 46% and 66% respectively of the specimens found to contain E. coli. The corresponding figures for the finding of E. coli populations that were predominantly resistant to tetracycline, ampicillin or sulphamethoxazole were 12%, 6% and 20%. The frequency of resistance to any of these drugs was not related to age or sex of the subjects. All E. coli isolates were sensitive to gentamicin. Among the 577 subjects aged 6-80 years from whose samples E. coli was isolated were 19 who had taken antibacterial drugs in the previous 30 days and 11 who were involved in cattle farming; carriage rates for tetracycline-resistant and sulphonamide-resistant E. coli were significantly higher among these 30 than in the other 547.
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K antigens of Escherichia coli and virulence in urinary-tract infection: studies in a mouse model
More LessSUMMARYThe importance of K antigens of Escherichia coli as virulence factors was studied by comparing groups of mice given either strains of E. coli isolated from urinary tract infection in humans or mutant strains differing only in the absence of the K antigen. K antigens proved to be of minor importance for mouse nephropathogeni-city; however, with the exception of the K(A) antigen, they contributed substantially to deaths attributed to more general infection. Possible mechanisms for the virulence of strains with K antigens are discussed in terms of the bactericidal effect of serum and phagocytosis.
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Phagocytosis of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense by peritoneal macrophages: a study by scanning electronmicroscopy
More LessSUMMARYPhagocytosis of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense by peritoneal macrophages takes place by seizure of the trypomastigote by either end but usually by the anterior. A lamellar sheath similar to that seen in phagocytosis of the promastigote of Leishmania is observed, but it is smaller and does not proceed to envelop the living parasite. The attached trypomastigote becomes pitted and appears to have been killed and partially destroyed before it is completely engulfed.
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Relatedness of chloramphenicol resistance plasmids in epidemiologically unrelated strains of pathogenic Escherichia coli from man and animals
More LessSUMMARYI have examined 20 plasmids conferring chloramphenicol resistance (Cm) in multiresistant strains of Escherichia coli pathogenic for man and piglets. In Denmark, one plasmid family, exemplar pHG33, is responsible for all chloramphenicol resistance in serotypes of E. coli found in diseased piglets. A closely related plasmid, pHG50, was identified in an enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) strain from an infant. The isolate was epidemiologically unrelated to the piglet isolates. The molecular relatedness of the plasmids was established by restriction enzyme analyses and Southern blots. Chloramphenicol resistance plasmids in E. coli from urinary tract infections, or in English EPEC strains, did not show the same close relatedness with the piglet plasmid pHG33. However, many were of the same incompatibility group and their restriction profiles displayed a number of common bands. The close relatedness of pHG50 and pHG33 suggests exchange of plasmids between pathogenic serotypes of E. coli from man and animals. The infant from whom the EPEC strain carrying plasmid pHG50 was isolated might have acquired it from piglets. Disease in human babies caused by EPEC strains is now rare in Denmark and no Cm-resistant strains are found. Possible reasons for the loss of Cm-resistance plasmids from human strains and their retention in piglet strains are discussed.
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Characteristics of motile curved rods in vaginal secretions
SUMMARYMotile curved rods seen in vaginal secretions have been isolated on Columbia agar supplemented with 5% human blood and vitamin K. Growth occurred anaerobically and in 5% oxygen but not in more aerobic conditions. There were two distinct groups of these organisms, distinguishable by morphology, biochemical activity and susceptibility to metronidazole. All isolates were sensitive to a wide range of antimicrobial agents, with the exception of nalidixic acid and polymyxin, but one group was resistant to metronidazole. There was little difference between the results of tests of susceptibility to aminoglycosides or to metronidazole performed in anaerobic and microaerophi-lic conditions. Motile curved rods were isolated from 18 of 80 patients with a clinical diagnosis of non-specific vaginitis, but from only two of 39 without the disease.
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Non-cultural detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in cervical and vaginal washings
More LessSUMMARYGenetic transformation, an indirect sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the Limulus amoebocyte assay were used to indicate the presence of products of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in vaginal and uterine cervical aspirates from 37 women attending a Department of Genito-Urinary Medicine. In parallel with these tests, qualitative and quantitative assessments of the microbial content of aspirates were made. There was wide variation in the numbers of gonococci cultured. The mean viable count for cervical aspirates was 1 × 106 cfu/ml and the range was (5 × 103)—(8 × 106) cfu/ml; the mean count for vaginal aspirates was 8.4 × 104 cfu/ml and the range (1 × 102)—(1 × 106) cfu/ml. Viable counts of organisms other than gonococci in vaginal aspirates were two to tenfold greater than the corresponding counts for cervical aspirates. Of 20 patients with gonorrhoea confirmed by conventional diagnostic cultures, aspirates from 15 (75%) gave a positive transformation result, and 12 (60%) a positive ELISA result; 16 (84.2%) out of 19 of these aspirates tested by the Limulus lysate assay were positive at a dilution of 1 in 100.
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A highly discriminatory multi-typing scheme for Proteus mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris
More LessSUMMARYStrains of Proteus mirabilis and P. vulgaris isolated in England, Scotland and Sweden were characterised by proticine production-proticine sensitivity (P-S) typing, O serotyping and Dienes typing methods. The determinants of O antigenicity were independent of those determining proticine production and proticine sensitivity. Because of this independence, the combination of P-S typing and O serotyping for the analysis of the 133 serotypable strains separated them into 81 distinct types whereas P-S typing and O serotyping methods alone separated them into only 56 and 19 types respectively. There was a relationship between the Dienes type and the P-S type; the determinants of Dienes compatibility were the proticine production-proticine sensitivity characters. The determinants of O antigenicity appeared to play no role in the Dienes reaction. Some strains that were indistinguishable by P-S typing and O serotyping methods were distinguished by Dienes typing.
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A new lipopolysaccharide antigen identified in Acinetobacter calcoaceticus: occurrence of widespread natural antibody
H. Brade and C. GalanosSUMMARYSerological investigation of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus revealed a new antigen to which antibody in high titre is present in the serum of many mammalian species. The passive haemolysis test showed that antibody, in titres ranging from 32-4096, was invariably present in the serum of mice, rats, guinea-pigs, and horses. Rabbits and human beings had lower and more variable titres (>2-512). The antigen persisted after prolonged hydrolysis of the LPS in 1% acetic acid at 100°C. Acinetobacter lipid A, which resembled antigenically the lipid A of many gram-negative bacteria, could be distinguished from the new antigen by inhibition and absorption experiments. Antibody to the new antigen could be completely absorbed with acinetobacter lipid A but not with enterobacterial lipid A; moreover, the latter failed to react with the antibody in the passive haemolysis test. Immunisation of rabbits with lipid A-immuno-genic acinetobacter cells gave rise to antibodies against the new antigen and to lipid-A antibodies. Absorption of the immune serum with acinetobacter lipid A removed antibody to both antigens, but absorption with enterobacterial lipid A removed only the lipid -A antibodies.
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- Proceedings Of The Pathological Society Of Great Britain And Ireland
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- Books Received
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Volumes and issues
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Volume 73 (2024)
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