Journal of Pathogens

The increasing number of new cases of Chlamydia infection worldwide may be attributed to the pathogen's ability to evade various host immune responses. Summarized here are means of evasion utilized by Chlamydia enabling survival in a hostile host environment. The pathogen's persistence involves a myriad of molecular interactions manifested in a variety of ways, e.g ., formation of membranous intracytoplasmic inclusions and cytokine-induced amino acid synthesis, paralysis of phagocytic neutrophils, evasion of phagocytosis, inhibition of host cell apoptosis, suppression of antigen presentation, and induced expression of a check point inhibitor of programmed host cell death...

This study was conducted in Ayder comprehensive specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia, to determine the bacterial profiles and drug susceptibility pattern from body fluids. A total of 218 patients were investigated, of which 146 (67%) were males. The age of the study subjects ranged from 2 days to 80 years with 96(44%) in the age group of 15 years and above. The overall bacterial infection was 44 (20.2 %) of which gram positive bacteria were prevalent, 23 (52.3%) than gram negative bacteria 21 (47...

Electrochemical treatment (ECT) is a promising new way to induce tumor regression by flowing direct current into the cancer tissue. ECT was applied to different kinds of tumors in clinical studies and showed good results. In addition, basic research has almost not been done in the field of evaluation of efficacy, dose-response, and cytotoxicity. Therefore, the objective is to study the cellular mechanism in the antitumor effect of ECT and to contribute data of basic research of ECT. In the cell-level study, tumor cells (Sarcoma-180, Scc-7, Ehrlich Carcinoma) were studied using ICR mice and C3H mice...

The presence and detection of common airborne fungi in an area are important for the prevention and treatment of allergic fungal diseases. Because of the ubiquitous nature of fungi, the effect of four different fungal species in production of antioxidant and reactive oxygen species production in balb/c albino mice was investigated. Fifty-four balb/c mice were randomly divided into eight groups (n = 6) and a normal control group. Four different fungal plates, comprising Aspergillus flavus , Aspergillus penicillioides , Penicillium citrinum, and Penicillium chrysogenum, which were the most abundant fungi species sampled in the environment were cultured for one week to make 2...

Subgingival bacteria are continually exposed to gingival crevicular fluids that are derived from serum, which contain various bactericidal agents. The periodontopathic bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis has been demonstrated to possess a variety of abilities to resist bactericidal agents, due to which it is able to propagate in the subgingival environment. We previously demonstrated that the major surface glycoproteins of P. gingivalis -Pgm6 and Pgm7, also called outer membrane protein A-like proteins (OmpALPs)-mediate resistance to the bactericidal activity of human serum, but their precise role remains unknown...

The search for new antimalarial drugs has become an urgent requirement due to resistance to the available drugs and the lack of an effective vaccine. In this respect, the present study aimed to evaluate the antimalarial activity of kaempferol against Plasmodium berghei infection in mice as an in vivo model. Chronic toxicity and antimalarial activities of kaempferol alone and in combination with chloroquine were investigated in P. berghei ANKA infected ICR mice using standard procedures. The results showed that chronic administration of 2,000 mg/kg of kaempferol resulted in no overt signs of toxicity as well as no hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, or hematotoxicity...

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Wukari, Taraba state, Nigeria, to determine the prevalence of Brucella antibodies and the risk factors associated with brucellosis in indigenous breeds of goats. A total of 386 goats were sampled from three political wards: Puje, Avyi, and Hospital: harvested sera samples were subjected to Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT). GraphPad Prism version 7.03 for Windows (GraphPad Software, La Jolla California, USA) was used to analyse the association between seroprevalence of brucellosis and age, sex, breed, location, and management system by using Chi square and Fisher's exact test as appropriate...

Ctenocephalides felis is an ectoparasitic flea species commonly found on dogs and cats. The current study verified the in vitro virulence of conidia of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana produced under different color LED light (red, blue, purple, green, yellow, and white) to adults of C. felis . The fungal isolates were cultivated on malt extract agar (MEA). Bioassay treatments used aerial conidia in test tubes. Adult fleas were obtained from a house cat in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The experiments were composed of one control and eleven treatment groups...

This study was conducted with an objective to find the prevalence of extended spectrum betalactamase (ESBL) and metallobetalactamase (MBL) in P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii isolates obtained from various clinical samples. It was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda, over a period of two years from July 2014 to June 2016. Clinical specimens including urine, pus, blood, high vaginal swabs, respiratory samples, and various body fluids were processed and P...

Rotavirus induced acute gastroenteritis AGE has been a major disease burden in Nigeria, since it was first reported in 1985. Prevalence rates have increased with severe public health consequences particularly among children. The vaccine Rotarix® has been introduced and is commercially available in Nigeria. However routine rotavirus vaccination is yet to be introduced into the National Immunization Program. Molecular epidemiology of rotavirus in Nigeria has shown the presence of various genotypes, with genotype G12P[8] being the most recent introduction...

Evidence is emerging that shows taste receptors serve functions outside of taste sensation of the tongue. Taste receptors have been found in tissue across the human body, including the gastrointestinal tract, bladder, brain, and airway. These extraoral taste receptors appear to be important in modulating the innate immune response through detection of pathogens. This review discusses taste receptor signaling, focusing on the G-protein-coupled receptors that detect bitter and sweet compounds in the upper airway epithelium...

Staphylococci are highly successful at colonizing a variety of dynamic environments, both nonpathogenic and those of clinical importance, and comprise the list of pathogens of global public health significance. Their remarkable survival and persistence can be attributed to a host of strategies, one of which is metabolic versatility-their ability to rapidly alter their metabolism in the presence of transient or long-term bacteriostatic and bactericidal conditions and facilitate cellular homeostasis. These attributes contribute to their widespread dissemination and challenging eradication particularly from clinical settings...

Panton-Valentine leukocidin ( luk-pv ) is a cytotoxin that causes leukocyte destruction and tissue necrosis. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the pv1 , mecA , and nuc genes in Staphylococcus aureus isolates obtained from anterior nares and superficial infection sites of skin in a slum population of West Bengal, India. Expression level of pv1 gene was also analysed. Twenty-two S. aureus strains were isolated, and phenotype and genotype specific examinations for S. aureus isolates were carried out...

Two Malaysian very virulent infectious bursal disease virus (vvIBDV) strains UPM0081 (also known as B00/81) and UPM190 (also known as UPM04/190) isolated from local IBD outbreaks in 2000 and 2004, respectively, were separately passaged for 12 consecutive times in 11-day-old specific pathogen free (SPF) chicken embryonated eggs (CEE) via the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) route. The CEE passage 8 (EP8) isolates were passaged once in BGM-70 cell line yielding UPM0081EP8BGMP1 and UPM190EP8BGMP1, while the EP12 isolates were passaged 15 times in BGM-70 cell line yielding UPM0081EP12BGMP15 and UPM190EP12BGMP15 using T25 tissue culture flask...

Orf is a clinical manifestation of parapoxvirus infection often fatal in goats and sheep especially when they are under stress or influenced by unfavorable environment. This study investigated the pathogenicity of two Orf virus isolates (ORFV UPM1/14 and UPM2/14) and host response in mouse model by using different inoculation sites with/without prior exposure to dexamethasone. Treatments with dexamethasone served as an immunosuppressant that may mimic stress situation in affected animals. Groups of five mice were given intradermal injection of 0...

Background: Charcoal production is a significant economic activity in Ghana. However, there is scarcity of data on the risk of acquiring Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among charcoal producers in Ghana, even though persistent smoke exposure is a known predisposition factor. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 40 charcoal producers: 6 males and 34 females. Two sets of early morning sputum samples were collected from each participant and examined for the presence of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) using fluorescent microscopy...

Given the lack of standardization of methodologies for microbial recovery from built environments, we sought to compare the yield of Staphylococcus aureus with a broth enrichment method when incubated in agitated versus static conditions. Five unique strains of S. aureus at five different concentrations were cultured to compare direct plating, agitated broth enrichment, and static broth enrichment culture methods. All samples were incubated at 35° in ambient air. The lowest concentration recovered across three replicates and five strains did not differ between culture methods (Fisher's exact test, p=0...

Background: Neonatal infection refers to the infection of the newborn during the first twenty-eight days of life. It is one of the causes of infant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of the study is to determine the relative contribution of the different pathogens to the overall disease burden. It will also determine the mechanisms of virulence of these pathogens that cause neonatal infections at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka. Methods: Biological samples were collected from 30 neonates admitted at the special care baby unit (SCBU) of COOUTH and cultured using selective media and nutrient agar...

The increasing emergence of Acinetobacter spp. with healthcare associated infections (HCAI) in intensive care units (ICU) is alarming. This study was a laboratory-based audit to determine the prevalence of Acinetobacter spp. associated with HCAI in the adult ICU of a tertiary care hospital in Varanasi, north India, with special reference to antimicrobial resistance and resistance determinants over a period of 5 years. A total of 993 cases of HCAI were analyzed. Isolates were characterized as multidrug resistance and extended drug resistance (MDR/XDR) based on antimicrobial susceptibility records...

Objectives: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) incidences are on the rise worldwide, including the tuberculosis endemic areas. They should be identified rapidly to the species level and should be carefully differentiated as contamination, colonization, or disease. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence and clinicoepidemiological profile of mycobacteriosis cases. Materials and Methods: Cultures were made on liquid and solid media. NTM were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction analysis (PRA) and gene sequencing...