2-Aminoimidazoles Inhibit Mycobacterium abscessus Biofilms in a Zinc-Dependent Manner.

Biofilm growth is thought to be a significant obstacle to the successful treatment of Mycobacterium abscessus infections. A search for agents capable of inhibiting M. abscessus biofilms led to our interest in 2-aminoimidazoles and related scaffolds, which have proven to display antibiofilm properties against a number of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium smegmatis. The screening of a library of 30 compounds led to the identification of a compound, AB-2-29, which inhibits the formation of M. abscessus biofilms with an IC50 (the concentration required to inhibit 50% of biofilm formation) in the range of 12.5 to 25 µM. Interestingly, AB-2-29 appears to chelate zinc, and its antibiofilm activity is potentiated by the addition of zinc to the culture medium. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicate that AB-2-29 acts through a distinct mechanism from those reported to date for 2-aminoimidazole compounds.

Predictability of Fused 3D-T2-SPACE and 3D-TOF-MRA Images in Identifying Conflict in Trigeminal Neuralgia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of fused three-dimensional T2 sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using different flip-angle evolutions (3D-SPACE) and three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (3D-TOF-MRA) sequences for detecting neurovascular compression (NVC) in patients presenting with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). METHODS: A prospective study was carried in 33 consecutive patients (m/f: 17/16; mean age, 56.3 ± 10.4 years) with unilateral TN confirmed NVC and consensus by two experienced radiologists on fused 3D-SPACE and 3D-TOF-MRA sequences of 3-tesla (3-T) MRI. All patients underwent microvascular decompression (MVD), using photos and video in surgery as documents compared with MRI. Both the MRI and MVD were reported for three grades (contact, compression, distortion), vessel types (artery or vein), identification of offending vessel, site (juxtapontine, cisternal, and juxtapetrous), and location (cranial, caudal, medial, lateral). Agreement between preoperative MRI visualization and surgical findings was assessed using the kappa (K) statistic. RESULTS: The k-values for the agreement were excellent for the grade of NVC (k=0.82), vessel types (k=0.78), and location of conflict (k=0.74), and good for identification of the offending vessel (0.65) and the site-affected vessel (k=0.69). CONCLUSION: The fused D3-SPACE and 3D-TOF-MRA images are highly effective tools for the evaluation and treatment planning of NVC in TN patients.