Time to positivity and detection of growth in anaerobic blood culture vials predict the presence of Candida glabrata in candidemia: a two-center European cohort study.

This study shows the accuracy of exclusive or earlier growth in anaerobic vials to predict Candida glabrata in a large series of candidemic patients from two European hospitals using the Bactec 9240 system. Alternatively, C. glabrata can be predicted by a time to positivity cutoff value, which should be determined for each setting.

In vitro activity of 12 antimicrobial peptides against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium clinical isolates.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major threat to human health worldwide. The increasing incidence of non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections and particularly those produced by Mycobacterium avium has emphasized the need to develop new drugs. Additionally, high levels of natural drug resistance in non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB is of great concern. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are antibiotics with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. The objective was to assess the activity of AMPs against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. avium clinical isolates. MICs were determined using microtitre plates and the resazurin assay. Mastoparan and melittin showed the greatest activity against M. tuberculosis, while indolicidin had the lowest MIC against M. avium. In conclusion, AMPs could be alternatives for the treatment of mycobacterial infections. Further investigation of AMPs' activity in combination and associated with conventional antibiotics and their loading into drug-delivery systems could lead to their use in clinical practice.