Substantial Diversity in Cocirculating Omicron Lineages in Hospital Setting, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

We describe substantial variant diversity among 23 detected SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineage viruses cocirculating among healthcare workers and inpatients (272 sequenced samples) from Porto Alegre, Brazil, during November 2022-January 2023. BQ.1 and related lineages (61.4%) were most common, followed by BE.9 (19.1%), first described in November 2022 in the Amazon region.

Adevonin, a novel synthetic antimicrobial peptide designed from the Adenanthera pavonina trypsin inhibitor (ApTI) sequence.

The biological activities and the structural arrangement of adevonin, a novel antimicrobial peptide, were investigated. The trypsin inhibitor ApTI, isolated from Adenanthera pavonina seeds, was used as a template for screening 18-amino acid peptides with predicted antimicrobial activity. Adevonin presented antimicrobial activity and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranging from 1.86 to 7.35 µM against both Gram-positive and - negative bacterial strains. Moreover, adevonin exerted time-kill effects within 10 min and both susceptible and drug-resistant bacterial strains were affected by the peptide. In vitro and in vivo assays showed that, at MIC concentration, adevonin did not affect human fibroblasts (MRC-5) viability or Galleria mellonella survival, respectively. Hemolytic activity was observed only at high peptide concentrations. Additionally, nucleic acid efflux assays, gentian violet uptake and time-kill kinetics indicate that the antimicrobial activity of adevonin may be mediated by bacterial membrane damage. Furthermore, molecular dynamic simulation in the presence of SDS micelles and anionic membrane bilayers showed that adevonin acquired a stable α-helix secondary structure. Further studies are encouraged to better understand the mechanism of action of adevonin, as well as to investigate the anti-infective activity of this peptide.

Metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in two hospitals from southern Brazil.

This study determined the prevalence of metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in two hospitals located in the Southern part of Brazil and compare the performance of two different phenotypic tests. Thirty-one non-repetitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from various clinical samples from patients admitted to two hospitals located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (twenty-three from a hospital in Porto Alegre City and eight isolates from a hospital in Vale dos Sinos Region). All strains suggestive of possessing MBLs by phenotypic methods were included in this study. Phenotypic detection of MBLs was carried out simultaneously by using both the MBL Etest and disk approximation test using 2-mercaptopropionic acid close to a ceftazidime disk. Strains positive were further confirmed using molecular techniques for bla(VIM), bla(IMP) and bla(SPM-1). The prevalence of MBLs from samples of inpatients from the hospital located in Porto Alegre was 30.4% and that of inpatients from Vale dos Sinos hospital was only 3.1%. Only MBL type SPM-1 was detected in these samples by molecular analysis and all were detected by the Etest MBL strips. The prevalence of P. aeruginosa that produce MBLs can be markedly different in distinct geographical areas, even among different hospitals in the same area. In our study, the EDTA-based method was the only method able to detect all strains harboring the SPM-1 enzyme.

Metallo-â-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in two hospitals from southern Brazil

This study determined the prevalence of metallo-â-lactamase (MBL)-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in two hospitals located in the Southern part of Brazil and compare the performance of two different phenotypic tests. Thirty-one non-repetitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from various clinical samples from patients admitted to two hospitals located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (twenty-three from a hospital in Porto Alegre City and eight isolates from a hospital in Vale dos Sinos Region). All strains suggestive of possessing MBLs by phenotypic methods were included in this study. Phenotypic detection of MBLs was carried out simultaneously by using both the MBL Etest® and disk approximation test using 2-mercaptopropionic acid close to a ceftazidime disk. Strains positive were further confirmed using molecular techniques for blaVIM, blaIMP and blaSPM-1. The prevalence of MBLs from samplesof inpatients from the hospital located in Porto Alegre was 30.4 percent and that of inpatients from Vale dos Sinos hospital was only 3.1 percent. Only MBL type SPM-1 was detected in these samples by molecular analysis and all were detected by the Etest® MBL strips. The prevalence of P. aeruginosa that produce MBLs can be markedly different in distinct geographical areas, even among different hospitals in the same area. In our study, the EDTA-based method was the only method able to detect all strains harboring the SPM-1 enzyme.