Global overview of the risk linked to the Bacillus cereus group in the egg product industry: identification of food safety and food spoilage markers.

AIMS: To evaluate the food safety and spoilage risks associated with psychrotrophic Bacillus cereus group bacteria for the egg product industry and to search for relevant risk markers. METHODS AND RESULTS: A collection of 68 psychrotrophic B. cereus group isolates, coming from pasteurized liquid whole egg products, was analysed through a principal component analysis (PCA) regarding their spoilage and food safety risk potentials. The principal component analysis showed a clear differentiation between two groups within the collection, one half of the isolates representing a safety risk and the other half a spoilage risk. CONCLUSIONS: Relevant risk markers were highlighted by PCA, that is (i) for the food safety risk, the presence of the specific 16S rDNA-1m genetic signature and the ability to grow at 43°C on solid medium and (ii) for the spoilage risk, the presence of the cspA genetic signature. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This work represents a first step in the development of new diagnostic technologies for the assessment of the microbiological quality of foods likely to be contaminated with psychrotrophic B. cereus group bacteria.

Biodiversity of psychrotrophic bacteria of the Bacillus cereus group collected on farm and in egg product industry.

The aim of the present study was (i) to type, by genotypic and phenotypic methods, a collection of psychrotrophic bacteria belonging to the Bacillus cereus group collected in a farm and in 6 egg breaking industries during a period covering a warm and a cold season, and (ii) to characterize the egg product spoilage (growth in liquid whole egg) and the sanitary risk potential (cytotoxic activity on Caco-2 cells and adhesion on stainless steel) of each isolate of the collection. The investigation of specific psychrotrophic and mesophilic signatures together with the study of ability to grow at 6 °C and/or at 43 °C on optimal agar medium allowed highlighting twelve profiles, the major one corresponding to the species Bacillus weihenstephanensis (46.2% of the collection). The diversity of the profiles depended on the season and on the origin of the isolates. In terms of food spoilage, all the isolates were able to grow at the same level in liquid whole egg and in optimal medium, even at low temperature. Under the same conditions, the cytotoxic activity depended on the isolate, the medium and the temperature. At 10 °C, no isolate was cytotoxic at 10 °C in liquid whole egg and only one, belonging to the Bacillus weihenstephansensis species, in the optimal medium. All the isolates were able to adhere on stainless steel at various levels, from 2.6±0.2 log cfu/cm(2) to 4.9±0.1 log cfu/cm(2). A large majority (80.8%) was strongly adhering and could lead to the formation of biofilms in industrial equipments.

[Epidural metastases at the spinal level. Clinical study of 82 cases]. / Les métastases épidurales au niveau du rachis. Etude clinique de 82 cas.

This is a retrospective review of 82 cases of spinal epidural metastasis. A warning vertebral or radicular pain was present in 85% of the cases. In 33% of the patients, who complained only of pain without any neurological deficit, a complete myelographic block was already present. It is thus of prime importance not to neglect a vertebro-radicular pain in cancer patients, and even in patients without known cancer since the epidural metastasis was the first manifestation of the neoplasm in 30% of our cases. The indications for myelography are defined. The functional result (i.e. ability to walk) after treatment depends on the neurological state before treatment. In our series, total paraplegia was always irreversible. Early diagnosis and treatment are thus very important. The surgical treatment alone is judged insufficient. We were not able to prove the superiority of one of the following therapeutic modalities: laminectomy followed by radiotherapy or radiotherapy alone. Radiotherapy is indicated in all cases, often as the sole treatment. The indications for surgery are defined; they are based on our own experience and the literature. High dose steroids are indicated as adjuvant therapy.

A paraprotein IgA1 occurring in serum, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF): immunochemical and idiotypic evidence of synthesis in situ by the central nervous system (CNS).

A patient affected with multiple myeloma displayed in the serum, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid a paraprotein with identical electrophoretic mobility. The paraprotein, which was polymeric, appeared in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid mainly as the dimer and tetramer, whereas in the urine the tetramer was predominant. The myeloma protein, identified as an IgA1 kappa, was isolated from the serum and urine and submitted to structural analysis. For reasons of scarcity of material, it was decided to approach the structure of the cerebrospinal fluid paraprotein by means of antiidiotypic antiserum. Complete idiotypic identity between, on the one hand, cerebrospinal fluid and, on the other hand, IgA1 isolated from serum and urine and F(ab)2 alpha derived from serum IgA1 was observed. Adsorption experiments confirmed the idiotypic identity among the three biological fluids. Although the blood-brain barrier of the patient was only slightly disturbed, IgA polymers of MW varying from approximately 280,000 to approximately 840,000 appeared in the cerebrospinal fluid. Consequently the results are good evidence for synthesis within the central nervous system by subsequent generations of a malignant B-cell line which invaded the central nervous system.