Isolation and characterization of Malassezia spp. in healthy swine of different breeds.

Malassezia spp. genus is represented by several lipophilic yeasts, normally present on the skin of many warm-blooded vertebrates, including man. Swine are one of the less investigated animal species. The aim of the present work was to study the occurrence of Malassezia spp. in the external ear canal of 408 healthy swine of different breeds, under different breeding conditions. For this purpose N. 185 free-ranging wild boars, N. 107 large size pigs and 116 Cinta Senese breed were selected. Animals were of both genders, with age ranging from 8 months to 4 years. The subjects were culturally and molecularly checked for Malassezia spp. Ninety-two out of 408 animals scored positive for Malassezia yeasts (22.5%). Malassezia pachydermatis, Malassezia sympodialis and Malassezia furfur were recognized. M. pachydermatis was the sole species isolated from wild boars (12.9%), Cinta Senese (20.7%) and juvenile large size pigs (13.6%); 88% of large size breeds adult subjects scored positive for M. sympodialis (63.6%) and M. furfur (22.7%), respectively. The study focus on scarcely investigated epidemiological aspects of Malassezia spp. in this animal species.

C-reactive protein in patients on chronic hemodialysis with different techniques and different membranes.

In hemodialysis patients, C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute-phase reactant, is a sensitive and independent marker of malnutrition, anemia, and cardiovascular mortality. The aim of the present study was to evaluate CRP levels in plasma samples from long-term hemodialysis patients on different extracorporeal modalities and dialyzed with different membranes, at baseline and after 6 months. Two hundred and forty-seven patients were recruited in eight hospital-based centers. All patients had been on their dialytic modality for at least 3 months and were prospectively followed in their initial dialytic modality for 6 months. Patients were treated with conventional bicarbonate dialysis (N = 127) or hemodiafiltration (N = 120). Patients treated with conventional bicarbonate dialysis were dialyzed with different membranes: Cuprophane (N = 51), low-flux cellulose modified membrane (N = 37) and synthetic membranes (N = 39). Hemodiafiltration was performed in post-dilution mode with polysulfone (N = 66) and polyacrylonitrile (N = 54) membranes. Analysis of baseline CRP values in the clinically stable patients showed that an unexpectedly high proportion (47%) of the patients had CRP values higher than 5 mg/l (upper limit in normal subjects). The mean +/- S.D. CRP values were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in hemodiafiltration with infusion volumes < 10 l per session (14.6+/-3.1 mg/l) than in standard hemodialysis (5.1 +/- 2.1 mg/l) and hemodiafiltration with infusion volumes > 20 l per session (4.9 +/- 2.1 mg/l). These values did not significantly change after 6 months of follow-up. Concerning the membranes, the highest levels of CRP were observed in patients dialyzed with Cuprophane with a significant increase from 15.1 +/- 3.6 to 21.2 +/- 3.1 mg/l after 6 months (P < 0.05); a significant reduction of CRP levels was observed in patients dialyzed with polysulfone in the same follow-up period (from 13.5 +/- 2.9 to 8.1 +/- 2.4 mg/l; P < 0.05). The CRP increase following low volume HDF can be related to back-filtration of bacterial derived contaminants.; moreover, an important effect on CRP of the hemodialysis membrane is observed and new synthetic membranes can be used to decrease these levels.