Is bacterial vaginosis associated with autoimmune antibody positivity?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between bacterial vaginosis (BV) and autoimmune antibody positivity. METHOD: We evaluated Papanicolaou-stained cervicovaginal smears of 210 patients with poor obstetric history who were admitted to a special preconception counselling programme. Cytological specimens with various types of microorganisms except for BV, epithelial cell abnormalities and other non-neoplastic findings, including inflammation were excluded from the cohort in addition to patients with autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. The remaining study population (n = 121) was divided into two groups of patients with autoimmune antibody positivity (study group, n = 80) and patients without antibody positivity (control group, n = 41). RESULTS: The rate of BV was demonstrated to be 13.8% and 2.4% in the study and control groups respectively (P = .042). We also demonstrated that the anti-nuclear antibody was positive in 58.3% of the cases with BV. CONCLUSION: BV was found more frequently in patients with autoimmune antibody positivity to a statistically significant degree.

Antivirulence Properties of Probiotics in Combating Microbial Pathogenesis.

Probiotics are nonpathogenic microorganisms that confer a health benefit on the host when administered in adequate amounts. Ample evidence is documented to support the potential application of probiotics for the prevention and treatment of infections. Health benefits of probiotics include prevention of diarrhea, including antibiotic-associated diarrhea and traveler's diarrhea, atopic eczema, dental carries, colorectal cancers, and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. The cumulative body of scientific evidence that demonstrates the beneficial effects of probiotics on health and disease prevention has made probiotics increasingly important as a part of human nutrition and led to a surge in the demand for probiotics in clinical applications and as functional foods. The ability of probiotics to promote health is attributed to the various beneficial effects exerted by these microorganisms on the host. These include lactose metabolism and food digestion, production of antimicrobial peptides and control of enteric infections, anticarcinogenic properties, immunologic enhancement, enhancement of short-chain fatty acid production, antiatherogenic and cholesterol-lowering attributes, regulatory role in allergy, protection against vaginal or urinary tract infections, increased nutritional value, maintenance of epithelial integrity and barrier, stimulation of repair mechanism in cells, and maintenance and reestablishment of well-balanced indigenous intestinal and respiratory microbial communities. Most of these attributes primarily focus on the effect of probiotic supplementation on the host. Hence, in most cases, it can be concluded that the ability of a probiotic to protect the host from infection is an indirect result of promoting overall health and well-being. However, probiotics also exert a direct effect on invading microorganisms. The direct modes of action resulting in the elimination of pathogens include inhibition of pathogen replication by producing antimicrobial substances like bacteriocins, competition for limiting resources in the host, antitoxin effect, inhibition of virulence, antiadhesive and antiinvasive effects, and competitive exclusion by competition for binding sites or stimulation of epithelial barrier function. Although much has been documented about the ability of probiotics to promote host health, there is limited discussion on the above mentioned effects of probiotics on pathogens. Being in an era of antibiotic resistance, a better understanding of this complex probiotic-pathogen interaction is critical for development of effective strategies to control infections. Therefore, this chapter will focus on the ability of probiotics to directly modulate the infectious nature of pathogens and the underlying mechanisms that mediate these effects.

Polymicrobial infections involving clinically relevant Gram-negative bacteria and fungi.

Interactions between fungi and bacteria and their relevance to human health and disease have recently attracted increased attention in biomedical fields. Emerging evidence shows that bacteria and fungi can have synergistic or antagonistic interactions, each with important implications for human colonization and disease. It is now appreciated that some of these interactions may be strategic and helps promote the survival of one or both microorganisms within the host. This review will shed light on clinically relevant interactions between fungi and Gram-negative bacteria. Mechanism of interaction, host immune responses, and preventive measures will also be reviewed.

Enemies and brothers in arms: Candida albicans and gram-positive bacteria.

Candida albicans is an important human opportunistic fungal pathogen which is frequently found as part of the normal human microbiota. It is well accepted that the fungus interacts with other components of the resident microbiota and that this impacts the commensal or pathogenic outcome of C. albicans colonization. Different types of interactions, including synergism or antagonism, contribute to a complex balance between the multitude of different species. Mixed biofilms of C. albicans and streptococci are a well-studied example of a mutualistic interaction often potentiating the virulence of the individual members. In contrast, other bacteria like lactobacilli are known to antagonize C. albicans, and research has just started elucidating the mechanisms behind these interactions. This scenario is even more complicated by a third player, the host. This review focuses on interactions between C. albicans and gram-positive bacteria whose investigation will without doubt ultimately help understanding C. albicans infections.

Horizontal gene transfer amongst probiotic lactic acid bacteria and other intestinal microbiota: what are the possibilities? A review.

Probiotics are live cultures, usually lactic acid bacteria, which are ingested to promote a healthy gastrointestinal tract. These organisms require certain traits to survive and compete in this niche, but these traits may be transferred to other microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Similarly, virulence factors from pathogens may be acquired by probiotic strains. Bacteria have developed a plethora of methods to transfer genetic material between strains, species and genera. In this review, the possible factors that may be exchanged and the methods of exchange are discussed.

The concept of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in relation to functional gastrointestinal disorders.

The role of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in the genesis of functional gut symptoms is controversial, but therapeutic benefits of antibiotics in controlled trials have highlighted the need to better evaluate and manage this state. Its definition is unclear due to limitations in assessing the microbiota in the small intestine and uncertainty regarding what is normal. Methodologies to detect bacterial overgrowth in clinical practice have limitations. The most commonly used is breath hydrogen testing after lactulose, but this cannot readily differentiate rapid orocecal transit from small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Symptom generation might derive from fermentation of dietary carbohydrates with resultant luminal distension, from impairment of digestion and absorption with changes to the luminal composition, or by interaction with the enteric nervous system and immune system with subsequent changes in nociceptive thresholds and/or motility patterns. Therapy is usually directed toward reducing the bacterial load with antibiotics, but altering the functional properties of the microbiota by reducing or changing the supply of fermentative substrate or by the use of probiotics are promising alternatives. Controversy will continue until concepts are broadened, consensus in definition is reached, and evaluation of efficacy of candidate therapies is more rigorous.

Globicatella sanguinis bacteraemia identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Globicatella sanguinis is a gram-positive coccus, resembling non-haemolytic streptococci. The organism has been isolated infrequently from normally sterile sites of humans. Three isolates obtained by blood culture could not be identified by Rapid 32 ID Strep, but partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed the identity of the isolated bacteria, and supplementary biochemical tests confirmed the species identification. The cases histories illustrate the dilemma of finding relevant, newly recognized, opportunistic pathogens and the identification achievement (s) that can be obtained by using new molecular diagnostics.

Genetically modified lactic acid bacteria: applications to food or health and risk assessment.

Lactic acid bacteria have a long history of use in fermented food products. Progress in gene technology allows their modification by introducing new genes or by modifying their metabolic functions. These modifications may lead to improvements in food technology (bacteria better fitted to technological processes, leading to improved organoleptic properties em leader ), or to new applications including bacteria producing therapeutic molecules that could be delivered by mouth. Examples in these two fields will be discussed, at the same time evaluating their potential benefit to society and the possible risks associated with their use. Risk assessment and expected benefits will determine the future use of modified bacteria in the domains of food technology and health.

Biochemical and serological characterization of Carnobacterium spp. isolated from farmed and natural populations of striped bass and catfish.

A comparative analysis of the phenotypic and serological properties of Carnobacterium strains associated with mortalities of cultured striped bass and channel catfish and the properties of isolates from wild brown bullhead catfish in the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland was conducted. All of the strains were gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, nonmotile, non-spore-forming rods occurring singly or in short chains. They did not produce cytochrome oxidase or catalase, did not reduce nitrate, failed to produce H2S, were unable to grow on acetate medium, and did not produce gas from glucose or gluconate. The temperature and salinity ranges for most of the strains were 10 to 37 degrees C and 0 to 6% NaCl, respectively. The strains all fermented mannitol and inulin and were arginine dihydrolase positive; these are typical characteristics of Carnobacterium piscicola. The carbohydrate fermentation pattern exhibited by all of the isolates with the API-50 CHL system was also very similar to that shown by C. piscicola. Acid was produced from ribose, glucose, fructose, mannose, mannitol, N-acetylglucosamine, amygdaline, arbutin, esculin, salicin, cellobiose, maltose, sucrose, trehalose, and gentiobiose. The Carnobacterium strains did not show proteolytic, lipolytic, amylolytic, or hemolytic activity. Eighteen drugs were tested; all strains proved to be resistant to chloramphenicol, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, trimethoprim, quinolones, and nitrofurans. The analysis of membrane proteins supported the phenotypic similarities, two main patterns were established, one shared by the striped bass isolates and the reference strain of C. piscicola and another shared by most of the catfish strains. However, the agglutination assays demonstrated that only one Carnobacterium strain from striped bass was serologically related to C. piscicola ATCC 35586.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)