Roumanian Archives of Microbiology and Immunology

Environmental enterovirus surveillance plays a key role in the detection and identification of importation of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses into polio-free areas. In 2015, 2 cases of paralytic poliomyelitis caused by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1), from south-western Ukraine, bordering Romania, were confirmed. Romania was considered a country at risk and the environmental enterovirus surveillance was enhanced. In this context we tried to find a diagnosis algorithm for the rapid detection of poliovirus (PV) in the sewage water, using a combination between a rapid molecular method for human enterovirus (HEV) detection using the GeneXpert system and the virus isolation on cell culture lines...

Polyploidization is one of the most dramatic changes occurring within cell genome owing to various reasons including under many viral infections. We examined the impact of herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) on SK-N-MC human neuroblastoma cell line. The infected cells were followed from 6 hours up to 96 hours post infection (hpi). A large number of polyploid cells with giant nuclei was observed under the influence of HSV-1 at 24 hpi with the DNA content of 32c to 64c or more, in comparison with control SK-N-MC cells that were characterized by relatively moderate values of ploidy, i...

With the emergence and spread of new methicilin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains, control of dissemination, both in hospitals and in the community, requires the molecular characterization of the circulating strains in order to establish their dynamics and identify the sources of infection. During this study we analyzed the MRSA isolates by means of PCR-based methods in order to improve epidemiological surveillance and early application of prevention measures. The presence of mecA, nuc, lukF-PV and lukS-PV genes, as well as SCCmec types was assessed in relation to clinical characteristics and multidrug resistance (MDR) for 86 MRSA isolates and showed that 51% of MDR strains were carriers of mobile genetic elements SCCmec IV and the majority of non-MDR SCCmec type IV strains were PVL-positive (81...

In an endeavor to monitor the effects of experimental infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa on gene expression profiles of the eukaryotic model host, we focused on transient receptor potential-like (trpl) pleiotropic gene of Drosophila melanogaster (the fruit fly). Herein we report qRT-PCR data derived from experimental infections of male fruit flies with different genetic backgrounds by pricking and ingesta procedures, as compared to previous results obtained by microarray technology consecutive to ingesta experiments...

Introduction: Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major concern in the medical community. Knowledge about the drug resistance pattern of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains plays an essential role in the management of the disease. Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective, 3-year study (2009-2011), in an urban area. We collected data on the drug resistance for 497 M. tuberculosis strains, isolated from patients with pulmonary TB. Among the 497 strains, we identified 158 MDR strains...

Herein we report the expression profiles of certain immunity genes from Apis mellifera carpatica worker individuals experimentally infected with Pseudomonas entomophila L48 strain. Changes of the relative expression of abaecin, Relish, dorsal, Toll-1, domeless, and Duox genes were monitored by qRT-PCR. Our results were compared with similar ones from Drosophila melanogaster model and suggest that these genes are involved in the anti-infective defense mechanisms. Our study opens investigation avenues for modern prophylactic and therapeutic approaches of infections affecting the honeybees, but also for identifying new orthologous genes involved in the human innate immune response...

Clostridium difficile is the agent of many cases of antibiotic associated diarrhea. The prevalence of the toxigenic Clostridium difficile strains was assessed by real-time PCR between May 2014- January 2015, at the Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. The incidence of the Clostridium difficile infection was 0.47%. Among the 1119 stool specimens tested, 165 (13.8%) were positive for C. difficile toxins A and B by immunochromatography test. All 165 positive samples were investigated by real time PCR and 134 (81%) samples were positive for toxin B and for the binary toxin, while the rest were positive for toxin B...

Noroviruses are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis, causing significant economic burden globally. Infection is self-limiting, occurring as sporadic cases or producing outbreaks associated with consumption of contaminated water or food. All age groups are affected and person to person transmission is frequent. Except a recent outbreak in Romania caused by the emergent genotype GII.P17-GII.17, few data regarding the circulation of noroviruses in our country are available. We retrospectively analyzed stool samples from acute gastroenteritis patients hospitalized in Romania between 2005 and 2008...

OBJECTIVE: Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are more susceptible to infections. Deficiency in some domains of immune system could be one of the main reasons, which increases the risk of infections. The aim of this study was to assess antibody responses to vaccines in a group of children with diabetes and in the controls. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed among 90 children under 15 years of age with a history of type 1 DM, referred to endocrinology clinics of university hospitals; Mofid Children Hospital and Loghman Hospital...

UNLABELLED: The authors' interest was focused on prolactin status in patients with melanocytic lesions and on changes induced by interferon treatment in melanoma patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study lasted 5 years and included 128 melanoma patients, 48 dysplastic nevi patients and 48 healthy volunteers. Sixty melanoma cases were selected after surgical removal of tumor and divided into 2 groups: 30 patients with 10 MUmp(-1) interferon alpha2b treatment, three times a week, one year and 30 patients without interferon treatment...

The mammalian conceptus is a semi-allograft. The maternal tolerance towards semi-allograft is primed by a battery of cytokines and resident decidual cells. Invasion of embryonic trophoblast, decidual vascular remodeling and unresponsive incipient 'Triple-negative' (CD3-, CD4- and CD8-) T-cells of foetus promote normal pregnancy. On the other hand, the maternal cytokine profile shift towards Th1 response is shown to enhance the risk during pregnancy. The periodical examination of maternal serum levels of Th1 and Th2 response mediated cytokines constitutes prognostic biomarkers to initiate therapeutic regimens...

In the context of an emerging market of food supplements, the proven quality of the antioxidant products should be the main criteria for using them. The production process has to be carefully controlled and complementary tests are needed to demonstrate the correspondence between real and declared properties of final product. Using well characterized compounds with proven antioxidant activity in biological systems as reference brings a plus of rigorously to the testing protocol. The aim of this study was to determine the acceptance range for the antioxidant (peroxyl radicals scavenger) capacity of "Natural SOD" by using for comparison ascorbic acid (vitamin C)...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is known as an important opportunistic pathogen, resistant to a high number of antibiotics. Efflux pumps are one of the main intrinsic antibiotics resistance mechanisms in P. aeruginosa. MexAB-OprM, MexCD-OprJ, and MexXY-OprM are the main efflux pumps involved in beta-lactam resistant strains which may cause cross resistance to different antimicrobial classes. The aim of this study was to detect relative gene expression in betalactam-resistant clinical P. aeruginosa strains. One hundred fourteen clinical strains of P...

Resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to antibiotics is a major problem. Targeting virulence factors is an alternative option to avoid the emergence of resistance to antibiotics. The effect of sub-inhibitory concentration of diclofenac sodium on the production of virulence factors of P. aeruginosa was investigated. The virulence factors included protease, haemolysin, pyocyanin and pyoverdin, in addition to pathogenic behaviors such as swimming and twitching motilities and biofilm formation. Diclofenac sodium showed significant inhibition of virulence factors as compared to the control...

Urinary tract infections (UTI) with Escherichia coli are among the most common infections presenting in general practice. Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are relied on for their empirical therapy but recent reports indicate a concerning increase in the percentage of FQ-resistant E. coli isolates in many countries, including Romania. Sixty E. coli strains with ciprofloxacin resistance and cephalosporin susceptibility isolated from urine specimens of non-hospitalized patients during a five-month period (October 2014 - February 2015) were further analyzed to determine the molecular basis of FQ resistance (i...

Poliovirus (PV), a member of the Enterovirus genus, is the etiological agent of poliomyelitis. A study carried out between 2013-2014 on 30 serum samples from acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases, showed a protective antibody level of 90% against poliovirus Sabin strains type 1 and type 2 and of 88% against type 3. No PV strains were isolated from 2009 to 2015 in Romania. Maintaining a high vaccine coverage level against polio is mandatory until global polio eradication, especially as the risk of polio importation remains elevated in Romania...

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a major cause of hospital-acquired (HA-SA) and community-acquired (CA-SA) infections worldwide. It is isolated from many human body sites, from animals and from foods, from the environment. Pathogenesis is caused by many virulence factors and antibiotic resistance. The host immune system tries to keep under control this pathogen, but many virulence factors produced by this under the regulatory systems control attack the immune system. The epidemiology of S. aureus is in permanent dynamic and is changing quickly...

UNLABELLED: Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and saliva samples provide advantages for screening or sero-prevalence studies on HCV using less invasive methods. The study aimed to evaluate the performance of a rapid test for HCV-antibodies (HCV-Ab) screening in oral fluids among high-risk individuals with chronic liver disease. METHODS: Chronic liver disease patients attending at the Matei Bals National Instiute for Infectious Diseases were recruited for this study...

Human papilloma virus (HPV) may cause mostly transient infections of cutaneous and mucous epithelia. Persistent HPV genital infections may induce pre-malignant or malignant lesions. While E6 and E7 HPV genes' malignant character is known, E5 is still under debate. We evaluated the possible role of E5 gene in cervix oncogenesis, in patients with abnormal cytology and HPV1 6 positive, in the context of viral status correlated with potential targets (p21, EGFR). HPV DNA was detected and genotyped using Linear Array HPV Genotyping Test (Roche Molecular Biochemicals, Mannheim, Germany) and E2, E6, E5 HPV16, p21 and EGFR transcripts levels were investigated by qRT-PCR...

Although not endemic in the European Union and European Economic Area, shigellosis is included among the priority food- and waterborne diseases carefully surveyed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. From 2010 to 2012, 1018 cumulated confirmed shigellosis cases were reported to the European Surveillance System by Romania. This retrospective study aimed to provide insights into the antibiotic resistance and genetic diversity of a set of Shigella sonnei isolates recovered during that period...