ACUTE KERATOUVEITIS WITH CORNEAL GRAFT MELTING AS A LATE COMPLICATION OF MILD CHEMICAL BURN POTENTIALLY ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19 INFECTION: A CASE REPORT.

Chemical burns are sight-threatening injuries that require immediate management. The main goal of the initial treatment is prompt and copious irrigation to neutralize and eliminate the chemical, followed by various therapeutic options (conservative and surgical) according to the individual patient's postinjury findings. PURPOSE: In this case report, we describe the course and treatment of a patient with chemical alkali burns of both eyes. This study reports the outcomes of an ocular alkali burn patient who became infected with COVID-19 and where severe keratouveitis with corneal graft melting and hypopyon occurred, ultimately resulting in evisceration of the eye. OBSERVATIONS: We report the case of a 35-year-old woman, after an alkali burn of both eyes. Complete re-epithelialization of both corneas occurred within three weeks. Due to this observation, we assumed a satisfactory healing prognosis. However, corneal lysis occurred in the left eye over time. The condition was managed, but subsequently severe keratouveitis with hypopyon and corneal lysis occurred in the left eye, apparently in connection with the COVID-19 infection, which ultimately led to the evisceration of the affected eye. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPORTANCE: In the case report, we describe the management of a mild chemical alkali burn of the right eye and a complicated moderate burn of the left eye with an alkaline chemical. Both eyes were completely healed within three weeks. However, the findings on the left eye became complicated, which ultimately led to the evisceration of the affected eye. The disease of COVID-19 could have contributed to the deterioration of the findings on the cornea, or it could have just been a coincidence of two diseases, with the keratouveitis having a serious course due to the previous difficult course of healing and many complications after the chemical burn.

Midgut lysozymes of Lucilia sericata - new antimicrobials involved in maggot debridement therapy.

Larvae of Lucilia sericata are used for maggot debridement therapy (MDT) because of their ability to remove necrotic tissue and eradicate bacterial pathogens of infected wounds. So far, very few antibacterial factors have been fully characterized (eg lucifensin). Using a molecular approach, some other putative antimicrobial compounds, including three novel lysozymes, have been previously identified and predicted to be involved in MDT. Nevertheless, data on lysozymes tissue origin and their functions have never been elucidated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of three lysozymes in L. sericata and confirm their antibacterial effects within MDT. Moreover, we characterized the eradication process of bacteria within the digestive system of maggots and determined the role of lysozymes in this process. We found that three lysozymes are expressed in specific sections of the L. sericata midgut. Recombinant lysozymes displayed comparable antibacterial activity against Micrococcus luteus. Furthermore, the majority of Gram-positive bacteria were destroyed in vivo within the particular section of the L. sericata midgut where lysozymes are produced. Larval ingestion and subsequent eradication of wound pathogens during their passage through the intestine of maggots are due to, at least in part, antibacterial action of three midgut lysozymes.

[The potential use of honey in ophthalmology]. / Moznosti vyuzitia vcelieho medu v oftalmológii.

Honey is considered to be a natural product with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Its successful application in the treatment of chronic wounds and burns has promoted its further clinical use in other clinical departments, including ophthalmology. One of the major advantages of honey is its multi-factorial antibacterial action and the fact that there is no risk of developing bacterial resistance to it. In this work we discuss the current knowledge and new perspectives for honey therapy in treatment of eye diseases such as dry eye disease, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts and bullous keratopathy. Key words: honey, eye diseases, natural product, treatment.

[Apitherapy--the role of honey in the chronic wound healing process]. / Apiterapia--uloha medu v procese hojenie chronických rán.

With increasing frequency, modern medicine directs attention to natural products and biological therapy methods and their use in clinical practice. Bee honey as well as other bee products (propolis, royal jelly and venom) have already found use in medicine not only as immune system stimulants but also as chronic wound healing promoters. The major arguments for implementing apitherapy are the low cost in comparison with conventional therapies and the fact that honey has proved effective against resistant hospital pathogens. Besides antimicrobial characteristics associated with no antimicrobial resistance risk, honey has anti-inflammatory effects. Controlled clinical trials have shown honey to be effective in chronic wound healing and gave rise to medihoney. Nevertheless, further study is needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of honey in clinical practice.

In vitro effect of subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics on biofilm formation by clinical strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolated in Slovakia.

AIMS: In this study, we examined the biofilm formation of 75 Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salm. Typhimurium) human clinical isolates and the effect of subinhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime on biofilm formation and exopolysaccharides (EPS) production. METHODS AND RESULTS: Quantification of biofilm formation and EPS production were carried out using a modified microtitre plate assay and spectrophotometric method, respectively. The results indicate that 38 isolates (50.7%), which are predominantly of DT104 phage type, presented as the strong biofilm producers in vitro on plastic surface. When strains with the highest biofilm-forming capacity were grown in the presence of sub-MICs of gentamicin and ciprofloxacin, the inhibition of biofilm formation and EPS production was observed. In contrast, cefotaxime at 1/2 MIC (0.039 microg ml(-1)) was able to significantly induce the production of biofilm as well as EPS in three isolates with nontypable and DT104 phage type, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results clearly indicate that all the three antibiotics tested are able to interfere with biofilm formation and EPS production by Salm. Typhimurium isolates. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The current study demonstrated that cefotaxime at sub-MIC can be beneficial for the behaviour of pathogen Salm. Typhimurium in vitro.