Prevalence of multi drug resistant enteropathogenic and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli isolated from children with and without diarrhea in Northeast Indian population.

BACKGROUND: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli are associated with infantile diarrhea in the developing countries. The present study was conducted to determine the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance pattern of enteropathogenic and enteroinvasive E. coli associated with diarrhoea among the paediatric patients. METHODS: A total of 262 stool samples were collected from children with and without diarrhea from Mizoram, Northeast India. E. coli were isolated and subjected to multiplex PCR to detect virulent genes of EPEC (eaeA and bfpA) and EIEC (ial). Isolates were subjected to antimicrobial sensitivity assay using disc diffusion method. Selected eaeA genes were sequenced for identification and genetic relationship. RESULTS: A total of 334 E. coli was isolated, of which 17.37% were carrying at least one virulent gene. Altogether, 14.97 and 2.40% isolates were categorized as EPEC and EIEC, respectively. Among the DEC isolates, 4.79% were EPEC and 7.78% were EIEC. A total of 8 (2.40%) isolates were EIEC (ial+), of which 6 (1.80%) and 2 (0.60%) were from diarrhoeic and non-diarrhoeic patients, respectively. A total of 24 (41.40%) DEC isolates were MDR (resistance against ≥5 antimicrobials). CONCLUSIONS: A high frequency of EPEC pathotypes associated with paediatric diarrhea was observed in Mizoram, Northeast India and majority of the isolates are resistant to antibiotics with a high frequency of MDR, which is a matter of concern to the public health. This also raises an alarm to the world communities to monitor the resistance pattern and analyse in a global scale to combat the problems of resistance development.

Effect of age and season on the thyroid hormone activity of Mizoram strain female mithun (Bos frontalis).

AIM: The aim of the present study was to generate baseline data on the normal values of the thyroidhormone (TH) activity as well as their correlation with age and season. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples (10 ml) were collected from jugular vein of 30 female mithun's of three different age groups viz. Calves (6 months to 1 year), heifer (1-3 years) and adult (above 3 years) during the three season's viz. Monsoon, winter and spring of a year. The serum was analyzed for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), and thyroxine (T4) activity. RESULT: The result showed a significantly (p<0.05) a higher T3 level in heifers followed by adults and calves and higher T4 level in adults followed by heifers and calves in all the seasons. The TSH level was higher in heifers in all the seasons. The winter season recorded higher level of T3, T4, and TSH as compared to the other seasons of a year. CONCLUSION: The TSH and T3 level were the highest for aheifer, whereas T4 level was the highest for adults inall the season. Furthermore, the higher level of TH was observed in winter season. The increased level of the TH during the winter season signifies their calorigenic effect. Similarly in heifers, the increased T3 concentrations show its importance in reproductive physiology and its association with ovarian activity. This indicates that age and season have aprofound effect on TH activity of Mizoram strain female mithun.