Chemical composition and antioxidant, antibacterial activity of Cirsium rivulare (Jacq) All. roots.

The mixture of three phytosterols (campesterol, stigmasterol and ß-sitosterol), ß-sitosterol 3-O-glucoside and syringin were isolated from hexane and methanol extract of Cirsium rivulare roots after chromatographic separation. The main component of the source was syringin which was obtained with the yield 0.08% of the dry source. In hexane extract, the qualitative and quantitative composition of fatty acids was determined. The predominant component was linoleic acid (23.31 mg/g of extract). The extracts showed antioxidant activity. The ability to scavenge DPPH• free radical was in correlation with appointed total phenol content. The not-defatted methanolic extract was the most active. Hexane and defatted methanol extracts showed moderate antibacterial activity against G(+) and G(-) strains with MIC and MBC ranged from 25 to 200 µg/mL.

Conventional and molecular methods in the diagnosis of community-acquired diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age from the north-eastern region of Poland.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the main causative agents of community-acquired acute diarrhoea in children using conventional methods and PCR. METHODS: Stool samples were collected from 100 children under 5 years of age with acute diarrhoea during the autumn-winter period of 2010-2011. Rotaviruses and adenoviruses were detected by the stool antigen immunoassay, and Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp, Shigella spp, Yersinia enterocolitica, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Clostridium difficile, enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF), and diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli were detected by culture methods and PCR. RESULTS: Overall, enteropathogens were identified in 73% of the children. Bacteria, viruses, and mixed infections were noted in 37%, 24%, and 12% of diarrhoeal cases, respectively. The most common enteric pathogens were rotaviruses (31%), followed by C. difficile (17%), Campylobacter jejuni (13%), Salmonella spp (11%), and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (aEPEC) strains (10%). Compared with culture methods, PCR increased the overall detection frequency of the bacterial enteropathogens by 4%. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni suggests that the number of campylobacteriosis cases in Poland may be underestimated; this pathogen should be investigated routinely in children with diarrhoea. Moreover, C. difficile might be considered a causative or contributing agent of diarrhoea in 14.8% of children aged >1 year.

Type II toxin-antitoxin systems are unevenly distributed among Escherichia coli phylogroups.

Type II toxin-antitoxin systems (TAs) are bicistronic operons ubiquitous in prokaryotic genomes, displaying multilevel association with cell physiology. Various possible functions have been assigned to TAs, ranging from beneficial for their hosts, such as a stress response, dormancy and protection against genomic parasites, to detrimental or useless functions, such as selfish alleles. As there is a link between several Escherichia coli features (e.g. virulence, lifestyle) and the phylogeny of this species, we hypothesized a similar association with TAs. Using PCR we studied the distribution of 15 chromosomal and plasmidic type II TA loci in 84 clinical E. coli isolates in relation to their main phylogenetic groups (A, B1, B2 and D). In addition, we performed in silico searching of these TA loci in 60 completely sequenced E. coli genomes deposited in GenBank. The highest number of TA loci per strain was observed in group A (mean 8.2, range 5-12) and the lowest in group B2 (mean 4.2, range 2-8). Moreover, significant differences in the prevalence of nine chromosomal TAs among E. coli phylogroups were noted. In conclusion, the presence of some chromosomal TAs in E. coli is phylogroup-related rather than a universal feature of the species. In addition, their limited collection in group B2 clearly distinguish it from the other E. coli phylogroups.

First Complete Genome Sequence of Escherichia albertii Strain KF1, a New Potential Human Enteric Pathogen.

Escherichia albertii has been recently recognized as an emerging human and bird enteric pathogen. Here, we report the first complete chromosome nucleotide sequence of a clinical isolate of E. albertii strain KF1, which may provide information about the pathogenic potential of this new species and the mechanisms of evolution of enteropathogenic Escherichia spp.

[Prevalence of Candida albicans in stool of hospitalized children in 2003 with or without diarrhea from the Bialystok region]. / Cztstosc wystepowania Candida albicans w kale dzieci z biegunka i bez biegunki z regionu bialostockiego, hospitalizowanych w 2003 roku.

Candida species, predominantly Candida albicans strains, are part of the normal flora of gastrointestinal tract, but some authors suggest that faecal candida may cause diarrhoea. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of faecal Candida spp. isolates in 345 children with diarrhoea and 161 with other diseases, hospitalized in 2003. Overall 506 faecal specimens obtained before treatment and 98 after treatment of children for yeasts using routine culture method were examined. A total of 131 (101 before and 30 after treatment) strains isolated were identified as Candida albicans. Only 2 strains belonged to other species of Candida (C. parapsilosis and C. krusei). The sensitivity of Candida spp. strains to chemotherapeutic was also estimated. All strains of C. albicans were sensitive to nystatin. Incidence of faecal strains of C. albicans in children with acute diarrhoea (19,4%) and children with other disease (21,1%) was comparable (p>0,05). Candida albicans yeasts caused diarrhoea in small percent of studied children. Only in 2 (0,6%) children C. albicans as aetiological agent of diarrhoea was found. In 16 (16,3%) cases secondary fungal infections were acquired during hospitalization children (4 children with fungal diarrhoea). Resolution of diarrhoea caused by C. albicans in 6 children after treatment with nystatin was observed.

[Clostridium difficile toxin A and other enteropathogens in stool specimens of children hospitalized due to acute diarrhoea]. / Toksyna A Clostridium difficile i inne enteropatogeny w kale dzieci hospitalizowanych z powodu ostrej biegunki.

A total of 74 fresh stool specimens obtained from children with acute diarrhoea (43) and without diarrhoea (31) were examined simultaneously for bacteria pathogens (culture methods) and for Clostridium difficile toxin A (Oxoid Toxin A Kits) and enteric viruses (only diarrhoeal samples) (Slidex Rota-Adeno Kits; bioMçrieux). One (49%) or dual with C. difficile (23%) enteric pathogens associated with community-acquired diarrhoea (58% bacteria and 14% viruses) in 31 (72%) children were recognized. Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea (CDAD) (18,6%) and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis (16,3%) the most commonly were observed. Children were considered to have CDAD if they met special criteria such as the positive test for C. difficile toxin A, the presence of diarrhoea for at least 2 days and no other documented enteric pathogens. It was be found that antibiotic usage in the previous 3 weeks as a main risk factor for CDAD not be frequent (only 2/8 CDAD). The frequency of C. difficile toxin A detection in the diarrhoeal stool specimens from children treated or not treated with antibiotics was comparable (p>0,05); this same observed when stool specimens from children without diarrhoea were tested. The frequency of toxin A detection in stool specimens from children with acute diarrhoea (41,9%) and without diarrhoea (54,8%) was comparable (p>0,05) also. In conclusion, we recommended detection of toxin A by C. difficile toxin A Test as the rapid screening in diarrhoeal stool specimens only because the high predictive value of a negative test and the high sensitivity for CDAD with special criteria were found.