Effects of eating disorders on oral fungal diversity.

BACKGROUND: The eating disorders anorexia and bulimia nervosa can cause several systemic and oral alterations related to poor nutrition and induced vomiting; however, the oral microflora of these patients is poorly studied. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate fungal microflora in the oral cavity of these patients by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. STUDY DESIGN: Oral rinse samples were cultured to assess the prevalence of Candida species, and the isolates were identified by API system. Microorganism counts were compared by the Mann-Whitney test (5%). Ribotyping, a type of molecular analysis, was performed by sequencing the D1/D2 regions of 28S rRNA. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that the eating disorder group showed higher oral Candida spp. prevalence with culture-dependent methods and higher species diversity with culture-independent methods. CONCLUSIONS: Eating disorders can lead to an increased oral Candida carriage. Culture-independent identification found greater fungal diversity than culture-dependent methods.

Enteropatogenicidad de bacterias aisladas de peces, del agua y plancton de su entorno en Venezuela / Enteropathogenicity of bacteria isolated from fish, water and plancton from their environment in Venezuela

Las enfermedades de transmisión alimentaria asociadas al consumo de pescado, constituyen en la actualidad un grave problema sanitario en Venezuela, ya que la aparición de patologías gastrointestinales se ha hecho cada vez más frecuente, quizás originada directamente por miembros de la bacterioflora de peces dulceacuícolas. En tal sentido, el objetivo de esta investigación se centró en la determinación de la enteropatogenicidad, específicamente la citotoxicidad y enterotoxicidad de cepas bacterianas aisladas de tilapias, truchas arco iris y cachamas, provenientes de granjas y del medio silvestre. Para ello, se emplearon un total de 12 cepas, dos por cada especie bacteriana: Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Plesiomonas shigelloides y Vibrio cholerae, empleando la línea celular Vero y a través del modelo de inoculación en ratones lactantes. La producción de enterotoxinas resultó positiva para el 42 por ciento de las cepas, observándose distensión abdominal con fluido intestinal de color blanquecino en ratones inoculados con A. hydrophila, K. pneumoniae y V. cholerae, mientras que en aquellos inoculados con E. coli, el fluido se observó hemorrágico. El 100 por ciento de las cepas resultaron citotóxicas en el ensayo con células Vero, produciendo alteraciones intra (granulaciones tóxicas) y extracelulares (disgregación y cambios en la morfología celular). Estos resultados permiten inferir sobre la existencia de un vínculo entre el consumo de pescado y la aparición de enfermedades en el humano.

Diseases transmitted through food products associated to fish consumption, actually constitute a serious sanitary problem in Venezuela, because gastrointestinal pathologies are more frequent, maybe originated directly from members of freshwater fish bacterioflora. For this, the objective of this research was focused in the enteropathogenicity determination, specifically citotoxicity and enterotoxicity of strains isolated from tilapias, rainbow trouts and cachamas, captured from farms and natural environments. In that sense, 12 strains were used, two of each of the following species: Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Plesiomonas shigelloides and Vibrio cholerae, using a Vero cellular line and the suckling mouse model. The enterotoxin production resulted positive for 42 percent of the strains, observing abdominal distension with a whitish intestinal fluid in mice inoculated with Aeromonas hydrophila, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Vibrio cholerae, while in those inoculated with E. coli the fluid was hemorraghic. All the strains resulted citotoxic in the trial with Vero cells, producing intracellular (toxic granulations) and extra cellular alterations (desegregation and changes in the cellular morphology). These results allow the inference that there is a relation between fish consumption and the appearance of disease in humans.

Helicobacter pylori infection in adolescents with eating disorders and dyspeptic symptoms.

The potential role of Helicobacter pylori infection of the antrum as a cause of symptoms of dyspepsia in patients with eating disorders was evaluated with an assay to detect H. pylori-specific IgG in serum. H. pylori-specific optical-density readings were comparable for adolescents with eating disorders (0.133 +/- 0.063, mean +/- SD) and for two comparison groups, and were lower than readings for children with documented H. pylori infection. Symptoms referable to the gastrointestinal tract did not correlate with H. pylori status in the teenagers with eating disorders.