Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
443.
Probiotics in Veterinary Medicine Rodriguez-Palacios, Alex; Weese, J. Scott; Sharif, Shayan
Therapeutic Microbiology,
2008
Book Chapter
Probiotic therapy is becoming increasingly popular in veterinary medicine, both for therapeutic uses and for growth promotion. Probiotics may be used in food animal species to prevent or treat ...disease, but this is typically focused on the herd, not individual animal, level. Other objectives include increasing growth rate, improving feed conversion, stimulating the immune system, and decreasing shedding of zoonotic pathogens. The two main areas of emphasis in poultry research include enteropathogen control and immune stimulation. Consistent with other probiotics, the two most commonly represented genera in poultry probiotics are Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. Although undefined probiotics may be more efficacious than defined probiotics, their use is restricted in some countries because of the potential risks associated with the presence of pathogenic or antimicrobial‐resistant bacteria. Importantly, Salmonella infection of chickens was associated with the production of proinflammatory and Th1 cytokines, such as IFN‐?. Probiotic therapy has received attention in cattle from many different perspectives, including increased production, decreased gastrointestinal disease, and decreased shedding of zoonotic enteropathogens. Probiotics are used in pigs for two main reasons: increased feed utilization efficiency with consequent weight gain and reduced frequency of diarrhea. Probiotics are becoming increasingly popular for treatment and prevention of diseases in companion animals, particularly horses, dogs, and cats. Probiotic therapy remains a promising option as parallel pressures to reduce antimicrobial use in animals, produce safe food cost‐effectively, reduce environmental contamination with zoonotic pathogens, and maintain health in companion animals continue to be important priorities.
The diagnosis of interstitial cystitis is primarily made based on clinical and cystoscopic findings with exclusion of other bladder diseases. Despite all of the efforts at definitive identification, ...interstitial cystitis lacks universal objective findings. Mast cell activation with associated histamine release has been postulated as an etiological factor leading to the symptom complex associated with interstitial cystitis. To investigate this hypothesis, a 3-step controlled prospective study was conducted. In step 1 reliability of urine histamine assay was critically examined, and the assay was established to be simple, reliable and valid. In step 2 random spot urine histamine levels (basal state) were measured in 25 noninterstitial cystitis and 15 interstitial cystitis patients (22.1 +/- 0.95 ng./ml. versus 19.2 +/- 1.19 ng./ml.). There was no significant difference in the random urine histamine levels between the 2 groups (p greater than 0.05). In step 3 urine histamine levels were measured before and after hydrodistention (acute stimulation) in 7 noninterstitial cystitis controls and 6 newly diagnosed interstitial cystitis patients under general anesthesia. The urine histamine-to-creatinine ratio was used to correct for the dilutional effect of normal saline used during hydrodistention. The urine histamine-to-creatinine ratios of the control group showed no significant difference before and after hydrodistention. However, the difference in the urine histamine-to-creatinine ratios of the interstitial cystitis group compared to the controls before and after hydrodistention was highly significant (p less than 0.001). Although measurement of random spot urine histamine alone (basal state) was not found useful to make the diagnosis of interstitial cystitis, measurement of urine histamine before and immediately after hydrodistention (acute stimulation) may become an important objective parameter to assist in the diagnosis of interstitial cystitis.
Background: While Clostridium difficile infection is a significant concern in healthcare settings, there is increasing evidence that transmission does not solely occur in
hospitals and long-term care ...homes. Hospital patients are regularly discharged home following or during treatment, and it is likely that many excrete spores into their
household environment, posing risks of reinfection to themselves and transmission of spores to others. Hence, recommendations on household hygiene might be
important for control of C. difficile. The objective of this study was to investigate the information provided by Ontario hospitals to patients who have laboratory-confirmed
symptomatic C. difficile infection with respect to household hygiene advice once they are discharged from hospital.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and August 2018 and included an anonymous online survey, a website scan of Ontario hospitals, and
a content analysis of information provided to patients on discharge. The survey was distributed to practicing infection control professionals in Ontario hospitals through the
IPAC Canada listserv. One response per hospital corporation was accepted.
Results: Responses were obtained from 46/145 (32%) Ontario hospital corporations. The majority (30/46; 65%) of respondents indicated they personally believed the
household environment was important or very important in the transmission of C. difficile. Almost half (22/46; 48%) of respondents reported that their hospital had a policy
to provide household hygiene advice to patients when discharged home. However, analysis of 31 hospital information sheets from the website scan identified that 27/31
(88%) contained a statement that suggested there is little risk of transmission in households, and only 2/31 (6.5%) provided the specific dilution of bleach that is known to be sporicidal.
Conclusion: The household hygiene advice provided by Ontario hospitals downplayed the likelihood of transmission of C. difficile spores in household environments and
described a level of hygiene that is likely inadequate to prevent transmission of C. difficile spores in the home. This may contribute to recurrent infection and colonization
of household contacts.
Background: In response to Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infections (CDI), infection prevention and control practices in hospital settings tend to focus on symptomatic patients, potentially ...neglecting other sources of C. difficile. The purpose of the study was to identify epidemiological connections between C. difficile positive patients to explore the possibility of transmission occurring. This would allow an assessment of IPAC practices to ensure resources were being optimized and targeted to the most appropriate strategies to prevent transmission.
Methods: C. difficile was isolated and characterized from 125 patient stool specimens. Isolates were subjected to toxin profiling and ribotyping. Patient locations in the
hospital were mapped and epidemiological connections between patients with the same C. difficile ribotype were assessed.
Results: A total of 47 distinct ribotypes were identified, with the most common being ribotype 027/NAP1. Of the 41 cases identified as hospital-associated, only four
(9.8%) of the cases could be epidemiologically linked to another patient with known CDI.
Conclusions: A small minority of hospital-associated infections were found to have an epidemiological link to another known case of CDI suggesting transmission from
known cases is rare. This suggested that current IPAC practices were effective in preventing transmission from symptomatic patients, but other sources of C. difficile are
potentially unrecognized.
Animal models have played an important part in establishing our knowledge base on reproduction, development, and the occurrence and impact of chromosome abnormalities. Translocations involving the X ...chromosome and an autosome are unique in that they elicit sex-dependent infertility, with male carriers rendered sterile by synaptic anomalies during meiosis, whereas female carriers conceive but repeatedly abort. Until now the limited access to relevant fetal oocytes has precluded direct study of meiotic events in female carriers. Because somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) circumvents meiotic problems associated with fertility disturbances in translocation carriers, we used SCNT to generate embryos, fetuses, and calves from a cell line derived from a deceased subfertile X-autosome translocation carrier cow to study the meiotic configurations in carrier oocytes. Data from 33 replicates involving 2470 oocyte-donor-cell complexes were assessed for blastocyst development and of these, 42 blastocysts were transferred to 21 recipients. Fourteen pregnancies were detected on day 35 of gestation. One of these was sacrificed for ovary retrieval on day 94 and three went to term. Features of oocytes from the fetal ovary and from the newborn ovaries were examined. Of the pachytene spreads analyzed, 16%, 82%, and 1.5% exhibited quadrivalent, trivalent/univalent, and bivalent/univalent/univalent structures, respectively, whereas among the diakinesis/metaphase I spreads, 16% ring, 75% chain, and 8.3% bivalent/bivalent configurations were noted, suggesting that the low fertility among female carriers may be related to synaptic errors in a predominant proportion of oocytes. Our results indicate that fibroblasts carrying the X-autosome translocation can be used for SCNT to produce embryos, fetuses, and newborn clones to study such basic aspects of development as meiosis and to generate carriers that cannot easily be reproduced by conventional breeding.
PDF
