Volumen 65 (2016): Edición 4 (December 2016)

Viral infections of the heart cause serious clinical problems, either as infectious myocarditis, which usually is a consequence of acute infection or as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, resulting rather from a chronic infection. This minireview presents an up-to-date view on patho- mechanisms of viral infection of the heart tissues, the role of immune system in controlling infectious process at its various stages and current possibilities of recognizing viral infection of the heart with use of both cardiological and virological methods. Our goal was to present the variety of known viral agents causing heart infection, level of complexity in mutual virus-cell interactions, and consequent clinical scenarios.

The objective of the study was to perform a comparative analysis of phenotypic and genetic similarity, determination of resistance profiles, detection of toxin-encoding genes and molecular typing of Clostridium perfringens isolates originating from patients with gas gangrene. The study encompassed three patients with a clinical and microbiological diagnosis of gas gangrene who were hospitalized in one of the hospitals of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province in the same period of time between 8^th April 2015 and 20^th April 2015. The three C. perfrin- gens isolates studied had identical biochemical profiles. Two isolates had identical resistance patterns, while the third presented a different profile. Using the multiplex PCR method, all isolates showed the presence of cpa gene encoding α-toxin; furthermore, the presence of the cpb2 gene encoding β2-toxin was confirmed in two isolates. Genotyping with the use of pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) indicated that the isolates originating from the three studied patients represent three genetically different restrictive patterns which corresponded to three different clones – clone A, clone B and clone C. As a result of the study, it is possible to conclude that the studied patients simultaneously hospitalized in a single Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology developed three different endogenous infections.

Phosphorus is an essential plant macronutrient present in the soil. Only a small portion of phosphorus in soil is taken up by plants and the rest of it becomes unavailable to plants as it is immobilized. Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms play a vital role in converting the insoluble form of phosphates to the soluble form. The present paper reports the solubilization of tricalcium phosphate, rock phosphate, single super phosphate, zinc phosphate and aluminum phosphate by Piriformospora indica with the production of organic acids as well as acid phosphatase. The amount of phosphate released (4.73 mg ml^–1) and titratable acidity (0.12%) was found to be the highest in the case of single super phosphate as compared to other phosphate sources. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed the presence of oxalic acid, lactic acid, citric acid and succinic acid in the media. Highest phosphatase activity was observed with the cell membrane extract of the organism in the presence of zinc phosphate.

The endolithic environment is a ubiquitous habitat for microorganisms and a critical interface between biology and geology. In this study, a culture-based method and the phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences were used to investigate the diversity of endolithic bacteria and fungi in two main types of carbonate rocks (namely dolomite and limestone) from Nanjiang Canyon in Guizhou karst area, China. The results of bacterial diversity indicated that all bacteria isolated from dolomite and limestone rocks were divided into 4 bacterial groups, including Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. For these two kinds of rocks, Proteobacteria was the first dominant group, and Gammaproteobacteria occupied the greatest proportion which might be closely related to Pseudomonas in phylogeny to be the most dominant genera after isolation. Actinobacteria and Bacillus bacteria were also widespread in these two kinds of rock environments. There were only 9 and 8 strains of fungi isolated from dolomite and limestone respectively, which all belonged to Ascomycota. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on diversity of endolithic culturable bacteria and fungi in carbonate rocks in Guizhou karst region. These microorganisms may play an important and unprecedented role in the carbonate rock weathering during the long history of geological evolution.

Cytomegaloviruses are common worldwide, with variable frequency of infections. The infection in pregnancy may lead to pregnancy loss or serious sequelae for the child. To understand the risk posed by CMV in Poland we conducted cross-sectional study on women aged 15–49 basing on existing serum bank. Age dependent CMV incidence, the rates of congenital infection and sequelae were modelled from sero-prevalence, literature and demographic data. The overall anti-CMV IgG prevalence was 81.9% increasing from 74.3% in < 30 years old to 94.3% in subjects 45+ years old. The lowest incidence was estimated at the age of 15 and the highest at the age 34 (3.8 and 8.95 respec- tively/100 women/year). The estimated rate of cCMV varies from 22.4 to 37.2 per 1000 live birth depending on the assumptions made. The proportion of cases due to secondary infection ranged from 34.8% to 49.9% accordingly.

Group A rotavirus (RVA) acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a common cause of severe childhood diarrhea. The dominant circulating RVA genotypes in a given region may vary between and within the geographic regions and from year to year. Our cross-sectional study was designed to determine the burden of RVA genotypes among children with AGE admitted to referral Children Hospital at Egypt prior to implementation of the vaccine. Stool samples with clinico-epidemiological data were collected from 92 children ≤ 3 years-old with AGE. RVA G and P typing were performed with type-specific primers. RVA was detected in 48.9% of patients. Higher rates of RVA infections, 73.3% were detected in infants < 1 year-old. Breast-fed infants were significantly fewer in RVA positive group (P = 0.0006). Non-breastfeeding was a major risk factor for RVA AGE (OR 0.3, P = 0.02). RVA diarrhea occurred mostly in autumn and winter months (55.4% and 26.6%) with a significant difference in autumn (P = 0.0005) and was associated with vomiting and dehydration (OR; 1.66, P = 0.021 & 1.4, P = 0.03). RVA genotypes G1P[8] (26.7%), G9P[8] (20%) and G3P[8] (15.6%) were accounting for 62.3% of RVA AGE. G9 was significantly associated with mucus diarrhea, than G1 or G3 which were associated with watery diarrhea (P = 0.025). Also, G9 was significantly associated with loose stool for > 5 days (P = 0.006) and 54.4% of G9 patients had severe dehydration. The diversity of RVA strains detected in Nile Delta Egypt and emergence of G9 RVA highlight the need to apply vaccines against this genotype in Egypt.

Enteroviruses (EVs) are among viral pathogens that can cause acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). This study represents an overview of EVs isolated through AFP surveillance in Poland between 1999 and 2014. The presence of enteroviruses was studied in stool samples that were collected from 747 AFP cases and their asymptomatic contacts. Fifty five (6.12%) cases of AFP were associated with enterovirus isolation. Out of the 55 positive cases, 40 were associated with detection of enterovirus in patient, and 15 with detection of EV in healthy contact, without positive detection in paralytic patient. Polioviruses were isolated from 35 AFP cases. The results of this study showed that about 43.6% of positive AFP cases were found in association with the isolation of non-polio enteroviruses (NPEV). A total of 12 different types of the species B were detected (CVA9, CVB1, CVB3, CVB4, CVB5, E3, E4, E9, E11, E13, E30), and one additional isolate represented the species enterovirus A (EV71). Among the 12 serotypes of species B, CVB3 and CVB5 were more frequently detected than others, representing 40% of the characterized isolates, followed by CVB4 (16%), E4 (8%), and E11(8%). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that strains from Poland had the closest genetic relationship with isolates previously identified in Europe (France, Finland, Denmark, Moldova) but also in other parts of the world (Tunisia, China, USA), suggesting wide distribution of these lineages. The paper provides information about NPEV circulation in Poland in the past 16 years, about its association with the AFP and it indicates the need for monitoring NPEV circulation even after the eradication of poliomyelitis.

Five of thiourea derivatives were prepared using as a starting compound 3-(trifluoromethyl)aniline, 4-chloro-3-nitroaniline, 1,3-thiazol- 2-amine, 2H-1,2,3-triazol-4-amine and commercial isothiocyanates. All compounds were evaluated in vitro for antimicrobial activity. Derivatives 2 and 3 showed the highest inhibition against Gram-positive cocci (standard and hospital strains). The observed MIC values were in the range of 0.5–8 μg/ml. The products effectively inhibited the formation of biofilms of methicillin-resistant and standard strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis. Inhibitory activity of thioureas 2 and 3 against Staphylococcus aureus topoisomerase IV was studied. The examined compounds were nongenotoxic.

The expiration date of biopesticidal products is an essential feature of their use and storage. In the present work, the expiration date of biocontrol agent was predicted using the accelerated aging method. The available bacteria in Bacillus subtilis B579 biocontrol agent were 3.7 ± 0.2 × 10¹¹ CFU/g. It is calculated that the expiration date of the agent was about 17 months at 25°C. During this period, the available bacteria retained more than 90% of the value in the initial product. Thus, this work suggests the expiration date of biocontrol agents composed with spores could be estimated using the accelerated aging method.

Work in Hospital Emergency Departments (HEDs) exposes both the emergency ward staff and patients to infectious and in other way harmful biological agents. The results of this study shows the presence of pathogenic bacteria isolated by three different methods. It revealed 9.8% of pathogens detected by imprint method, 10.5% of pathogens by swabbing method, 17.6% and 22% in HEDs corridors and rooms, respectively, by air sampling method. In control workplaces (offices) pathogenic bacteria reached the level of 6.5% and 14.7% by imprint method and swabbing, respectively. The relatively low level of contamination by bacteria in HEDs may depend on the effectiveness of Standard Protective Precautions in the studied hospitals.

Infections of vascular grafts are the most severe complications in vascular surgery. We present the case of a 73-year-old male with infection of a dacron prosthesis with a strain of Enterococcus faecalis. The patient was treated with replacement of a full prosthesis with a combined graft constructed from Biosynthetic Vascular graft Omniflow and autologous veins. This graft is recommended for implantation in patients with a higher risk of infection. Our case is one of the first reported usage of this kind of graft in the aortic region and in a 2 years observation period no recurrence of infection was observed.

The aim of this study was to estimate the susceptibility of Staphylococcus hominis bacteria to the bacteriostatic agent in respiratory protective filters. Four types of filter media of different characteristics were tested. The number of bacteria was estimated by a culture-based method. It was proved that in treated filters the number of S. hominis was significantly reduced, even below the detection limit, while in untreated material bacteria were able to grow and multiply up to 100-fold within 8 hours. There was no correlation between filter structure and changes in the number of bacterial cells.

The work presented here demonstrates the utility of a two-step algorithm for environmental poliovirus surveillance based on: preselection of sewage samples tested for the presence of enteroviral genetic material-RT-PCR assay and detection of infectious viruses by cell culture technique (L20B for polioviruses and RD for polio and other non-polio enteroviruses). RD and L20B cell lines were tested to determine their sensitivity for isolation of viruses from environmental samples (sewage). Finally, we wanted to determine if sewage concentration affects the results obtained for RT-PCR and cell cultures.