The link between the antimicrobial and anticancer activity of peptides has long been studied, and the number of peptides identified with both activities has recently increased considerably. In this ...work, we hypothesized that designed peptides with a wide spectrum of selective antimicrobial activity will also have anticancer activity, and tested this hypothesis with newly designed peptides. The spectrum of peptides, used as partial or full design templates, ranged from cell-penetrating peptides and putative bacteriocin to those from the simplest animals (placozoans) and the Chordata phylum (anurans). We applied custom computational tools to predict amino acid substitutions, conferring the increased product of bacteriostatic activity and selectivity. Experiments confirmed that better overall performance was achieved with respect to that of initial templates. Nine of our synthesized helical peptides had excellent bactericidal activity against both standard and multidrug-resistant bacteria. These peptides were then compared to a known anticancer peptide polybia-MP1, for their ability to kill prostate cancer cells and dermal primary fibroblasts. The therapeutic index was higher for seven of our peptides, and anticancer activity stronger for all of them. In conclusion, the peptides that we designed for selective antimicrobial activity also have promising potential for anticancer applications.
Genital tuberculosis is a rare and unexpected disease in European countries including Croatia. Diagnosis of female genital tract tuberculosis is challenging and is rarely pin-pointed by clinical ...symptoms because of their low specificity. The authors decided to present a case of genitourinary tuberculosis in a young, immunocompetent fertile woman with high clinical suspicion of abdominal tumor mass. Although considered a desease of the past, rare clinical presentation of genital tuberculosis should be expected and taken into account. Key words: Tuberculosis; Genitourinary tract; Young women; Abdominal tumor
Aim
To evaluate, in vitro antimicrobial ability of two probiotic toothpastes (one containing Lactobacillus paracasei, other containing Lactobacillus acidophilus) and one toothpaste without probiotic ...separately, and in a combination with two different mouthrinses (one containing essential oils and the other containing hexitidine).
Methods
Antimicrobial susceptibility was checked by using the ditch method and Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI)
guidelines. Two different toothpastes with probiotic, toothpaste without probiotic and two different mouthrinses were tested against the following selected microorganisms: Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus salivarius and Staphylococcus aureus. Kruskal-Wallis test and MannWhitney U test were used for the statistical analysis (p≤ 0.05).
Results
Probiotic toothpastes had better inhibitory effect than toothpaste without probiotic in the case of Candida albicans
(p=0.043) and Streptococcus salivarius (p=0.043). In all cases, toothpastes had stronger inhibition capacity than mouthrinses
(p≤0.05).
Conclusion
Probiotic toothpastes, as a relatively new concept in the prevention of oral infectious diseases such as caries and periodontal disease, can contribute to the prevention of oral infectious diseases.
The aim of this research was to test the antibacterial activity of Pinus pinaster aqueous bark extract (PABE) and its basic components against multidrug-resistant isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii ...belonging to European clone I and II, isolated previously from the clinical outbreaks. The minimum bactericidal concentration of PABE against both clones of A. baumannii was 200 mg ml.sup.-1, while lower concentrations showed high antibacterial activity. After 24 h of treatment with 100, 50 or 10 mg ml.sup.-1 of extract, the reduction in the number of A. baumannii isolates belonging to European clone I and II was 85.8 + or - 2.5 %, 78.5 + or - 1.1 %, 66.3 + or - 2.5 % and 90.2 + or - 1.7 %, 78.6 + or - 1.2 %, 69.8 + or - 0.7 %, respectively. Several basic components: caffeic acid, catechin, epicatechin, gallic acid and vanillin, detected in the extract by high performance liquid chromatography, contributed to the antibacterial activity of the extract against both clones of A. baumannii. However, the antibacterial activity of extract was higher than that of each tested basic component suggesting that proanthocyanidins, which were present in quite a large amount in the extract, might have also contributed to the activity of the extract. Antibacterial activity of PABE against A. baumannii reveals that complex and inexpensive natural product might be useful in combat against naturally competent bacteria that easily acquire resistance against antibiotics. Keywords: antimicrobials, aqueous extract, bacteria, multidrug-resistant pathogens, natural compounds
Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), especially
Enterococcus faecium
, have emerged as significant nosocomial pathogens and patients with impaired host defenses are at a particular risk of VRE ...infection. The most common occurrence is asymptomatic colonization of the gastrointestinal tract that can persist for a long time and serve as a reservoir for transmission of VRE to other patients. We present a case of a patient who was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia and suffered from bone marrow aplasia following induction therapy. The patient received prolonged broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy. During hospital stay, the patient developed
Clostridium difficile
infection (CDI) and was found to be colonized with a strain of
Enterococcus faecium
resistant to vancomycin during therapy for CDI. This case also highlights the role of risk factors that could contribute to development of resistance, particularly CDI. Early detection of VRE colonization or infection is a crucial component in hospital program designed to prevent transmission of nosocomial infections. Surveillance cultures of such patients should be mandatory.
The rapid and ongoing spread of carbapenemase-producing
has led to a global health threat. However, a limited number of studies have addressed this problem in the marine environment. We investigated ...their emergence in the coastal waters of the central Adriatic Sea (Croatia), which are recipients of submarine effluents from two wastewater treatment plants. Fifteen KPC-producing
(nine
, four
and two
) were recovered, and susceptibility testing to 14 antimicrobials from 10 classes showed that four isolates were extensively drug resistant (XDR) and two were resistant to colistin. After ERIC and BOX-PCR typing, eight isolates were selected for whole genome sequencing. The
isolates belonged to serotype O21:H27 and sequence type (ST) 2795, while
isolates were assigned to STs 37 and 534. Large-scale genome analysis revealed an arsenal of 137 genes conferring resistance to 19 antimicrobial drug classes, 35 genes associated with virulence, and 20 plasmid replicons. The isolates simultaneously carried 43-90 genes encoding for antibiotic resistance, while four isolates co-harbored carbapenemase genes
and
. The
was associated with IncL-type plasmids in
and
. Importantly, the
in four
isolates was located on ~40 kb IncP6 broad-host-range plasmids which recently emerged as
vesicles, providing first report of these
-bearing resistance plasmids circulating in
in Europe. This study also represents the first evidence of XDR and potentially virulent strains of KPC-producing
in coastal waters and the co-occurrence of
and
carbapenemase genes in this species. The leakage of these strains through submarine effluents into coastal waters is of concern, indicating a reservoir of this infectious threat in the marine environment.
Acinetobacter baumannii zauzima posebno mjesto unutar skupine uzročnika teških infekcija, poznatije kao “ESKAPE” mikroorganizmi. Ovaj mikroorganizam postao je vodeći uzročnik hospitalnih infekcija u ...21. stoljeću, te su brojna istraživanja usmjerena na epidemiologiju, rezistenciju i nadzor nad ovim patogenom. Epidemiologija i molekularna osnova rezistencije kliničkih izolata Acinetobacter baumannii u Hrvatskoj tijekom posljednja dva desetljeća bitno se promijenila u većini zdravstvenih ustanova, uz visoki postotak rezistencije na karbapeneme, kinolone i aminoglikozide, te prisutnost multiplo-rezistentnih izolata. U ovom pregledu naglasak je stavljen na rezultate istraživanja epidemiologije i rezistencije kliničkih izolata iz Hrvatske.
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