Effect of Vitamin D Status on Vascular Function of the Aorta in a Rat Model of PCOS.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with elevated cardiovascular risk. Early vascular dysfunction may lead to the development of cardiovascular disease in PCOS. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a common comorbidity of PCOS that contributes to the pathogenesis of the disease and its complications. Both PCOS and VDD are accompanied by increased oxidative stress that may be involved in the arising vascular dysfunction. We aimed to investigate the role of vitamin D status on aortic function. PCOS was induced by an 8-week-long transdermal testosterone treatment of female rats, and low and adequate vitamin D status was achieved by dietary means. Contraction and relaxation abilities of isolated aortic segments were measured by myograph. Resorcin-fuchsin staining and immunohistochemical labeling of 3-nitrotyrosine were performed. No difference was shown in the norepinephrine-induced contraction of the aortas of different groups, whereas we detected reduced acetylcholine- and insulin-evoked relaxation in VDD groups. A lower level of resorcin-fuchsin staining and elevated 3-nitrotyrosine immunostaining was observed in VDD. In our study, we demonstrated early endothelial dysfunction in VDD PCOS rat model. Vitamin D supplementation could prevent vascular disturbances, while VDD itself damaged endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation and induced nitrative stress.

Genome analysis of Lachnoclostridium phocaeense isolated from a patient after kidney transplantation in Marseille.

Lachnoclostridium phocaeense is a new species in the genus Lachnoclostridium. Lachnoclostridium phocaeense is a Gram-positive anaerobic rod. This strain, Marseille-P3177T (CSUR = P3177) with the below described genome was isolated from the urine sample of a women after kidney transplantation. The strain genome is 3 500 754 bp long with 50.62% G + C content and consists of a single contig (GenBank accession number NZ_LT635479.1).

Role of Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection in the surveillance of resistance to antibiotics and training of students in the Mediterranean basin and in African countries.

Surveillance of antibiotic resistance has become a public global concern after the rapid worldwide dissemination of several antibiotic resistance genes. Here we report the role of the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection created in 2011 in the identification and description of multidrug-resistant bacteria thanks to collaborations and training of students from the Mediterranean basin and from African countries. Since the creation of the institute, 95 students and researchers have come from 19 different countries from these areas to characterize 6359 bacterial isolates from 7280 samples from humans (64%), animals (28%) and the environment (8%). Most bacterial isolates studied were Gram-negative bacteria (n = 5588; 87.9%), mostly from Algeria (n = 4190), Lebanon (n = 946), Greece (n = 610), Saudi Arabia (n = 299) and Senegal (n = 278). Antibiotic resistance was diversified with the detection and characterization of extended-spectrum ß-lactamases, carbapenemases and resistance to colistin, vancomycin and methicillin. All those studies led to 97 indexed international scientific papers. Over the last 6 years, our institute has created a huge network of collaborations by training students that plays a major role in the surveillance of resistance to antibiotics in these countries.

Real-time quantitative PCR assay with Taqman(®) probe for rapid detection of MCR-1 plasmid-mediated colistin resistance.

Here we report the development of two rapid real-time quantitative PCR assays with TaqMan(®) probes to detect the MCR-1 plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene from bacterial isolates and faecal samples from chickens. Specificity and sensitivity of the assay were 100% on bacterial isolates including 18 colistin-resistant isolates carrying the mcr-1 gene (six Klebsiella pneumoniae and 12 Escherichia coli) with a calibration curve that was linear from 10(1) to 10(8) DNA copies. Five out of 833 faecal samples from chickens from Algeria were positive, from which three E. coli strains were isolated and confirmed to harbour the mcr-1 gene by standard PCR and sequencing.

Genome sequence and description of Desnuesiella massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov. a new member of family Clostridiaceae.

Desnuesiella massiliensis, strain MT10(T) gen. nov., sp. nov. is a newly proposed genus within the family Clostridiaceae, isolated from the digestive microbiota of a child suffering from kwashiorkor. Desnuesiella massiliensis is a facultatively anaerobic, Gram-positive rod. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. The 5 503 196-bp long genome (one chromosome but no plasmid) contains 5227 protein-coding and 81 RNA genes, including 14 rRNA genes.

Genome sequence and description of Mannheimia massilioguelmaensis sp. nov.

Strain MG13(T) sp. nov. is the type strain of Mannheimia massilioguelmaensis, a new species within the genus Mannheimia. This strain was isolated from the exudate of a skin lesion of an Algerian man. Mannheimia massilioguelmaensis is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic rod, member of the family Pasteurellaceae. Here we describe this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. The 2 186 813 bp long genome contains 2048 protein-coding and 55 RNA genes, including eight rRNA genes.