Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Campylobacter spp. Isolated from Broilers Throughout the Supply Chain in Valencia, Spain.

Campylobacter is a major foodborne pathogen and its antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been described worldwide. The main objective of this study was to determine the occurrence and AMR of Campylobacter spp. isolated from broilers throughout the supply chain in Valencia, Spain. A total of 483 samples were included in the analysis: 430 from the slaughterhouse (chicken carcass and neck skin) and 53 from the point of sale (retail broiler and packaging). Taking into account the origin of the sample, the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was 19% in carcass, 28.2% in neck skin, 36.7% in retail broiler, and 80% in packaging isolates. The prevalence of different species in the analyzed samples was 21.1% and 4.8% for Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, respectively. AMR profiling of 125 Campylobacter isolates revealed that 122 (97.6%) of the isolates were resistant to one or more antimicrobials. C. jejuni samples presented high resistance to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin, 96.1% and 90.2% respectively, whereas C. coli showed 87% of resistance to both antimicrobials. Both species were resistant to tetracycline (C. jejuni 84.3% and C. coli 60.9%) and 26.1% of C. coli was resistant to streptomycin. These results showed no significant difference in the frequency of AMR (p ≥ 0.05) among isolates originated from different points in the food-processing chain at slaughterhouses and retail establishments. In contrast, three main patterns were detected: quinolone-tetracycline (64%), quinolone-only (17.6%), and quinolone-tetracycline-aminoglycosides (8%). Additionally, 12.8% of the isolates presented multidrug resistance, with significantly higher levels detected among C. coli (30.4%) isolates compared with C. jejuni (8.8%) and all the three strains were resistant to all six antibiotics tested. Therefore, these results indicate that broilers could be a source of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter in humans and consequently pose a risk to public health.

Application of the experimental design of experiments (DoE) for the determination of organotin compounds in water samples using HS-SPME and GC-MS/MS.

When attempting to discover the important factors and then optimise a response by tuning these factors, experimental design (design of experiments, DoE) gives a powerful suite of statistical methodology. DoE identify significant factors and then optimise a response with respect to them in method development. In this work, a headspace-solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) methodology for the simultaneous determination of six important organotin compounds namely monobutyltin (MBT), dibutyltin (DBT), tributyltin (TBT), monophenyltin (MPhT), diphenyltin (DPhT), triphenyltin (TPhT) has been optimized using a statistical design of experiments (DOE). The analytical method is based on the ethylation with NaBEt4 and simultaneous headspace-solid-phase micro-extraction of the derivative compounds followed by GC-MS/MS analysis. The main experimental parameters influencing the extraction efficiency selected for optimization were pre-incubation time, incubation temperature, agitator speed, extraction time, desorption temperature, buffer (pH, concentration and volume), headspace volume, sample salinity, preparation of standards, ultrasonic time and desorption time in the injector. The main factors (excitation voltage, excitation time, ion source temperature, isolation time and electron energy) affecting the GC-IT-MS/MS response were also optimized using the same statistical design of experiments. The proposed method presented good linearity (coefficient of determination R(2)>0.99) and repeatibilty (1-25%) for all the compounds under study. The accuracy of the method measured as the average percentage recovery of the compounds in spiked surface and marine waters was higher than 70% for all compounds studied. Finally, the optimized methodology was applied to real aqueous samples enabled the simultaneous determination of all compounds under study in surface and marine water samples obtained from Valencia region (Spain).

Analysis of currently used pesticides in fine airborne particulate matter (PM 2.5) by pressurized liquid extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

During and after the application of currently used pesticides (CUPs) a significant fraction of applied pesticides can be lost to the air. A confirmatory and rapid procedure has been developed for the determination of four fungicides (carbendazim, thiabendazol, imazalil and bitertanol), three insecticides (imidacloprid, methidathion and pyriproxyfen), one helicide (methiocarb) and one acaricide (hexythiazox) in fine airborne particulate matter (PM 2.5) at trace level. The proposed method includes extraction of PM 2.5-bound pesticides by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) followed by a direct injection into LC-MS/MS. The main parameters affecting the performance of the electrospray ionization source and PLE parameters were optimised using statistical design of experiments (DoE). The matrix effect was also evaluated. Recoveries ranged from 86 to 106% and the limit of quantification (LoQ) was 6.5 pg m(-3) for eight out of nine pesticides, when air volumes of 760 m(3) were collected. The method was applied to 60 samples collected from four stations of the monitoring network of the Regional Valencia Government (Spain) during August-October 2007. The measured concentrations ranged from not detected to 1,371 pg m(-3).

Pancreatitis aguda y pancreatocolangiografia endoscópia retrógrada diagnóstica y terapéutica / ERCP in the diagnosis and therapy of acute pancreatitis

La pancreatocolangiografía endoscópica retrógrada de emergencia en la pancreatitis aguda, permite detectar la presencia de enfermedad biliar asociada, mostrar la anatomía bilio-pancreática para adecuada planificación de estrategia en opcional cirugía precoz y ofrece alternativa terapéutica: Esfinterotomía y/o Infudibulotomía endoscópica, en caso de Coledocolitiasis y en cálculo impactado en la ampolla de Vater. En vista de la importante incidencia de pancreatitis aguda biliar, la PCER practicada con urgencia es una técnica segura diagnóstica y terapéutica, que debiera considerarse durante el manejo de pacientes con Pancreatitis aguda