Detección y cuantificación de VHB y VHC en muestras de plasma mediante la utilización de diferentes ensayos moleculares: estudio comparativo / Detection and quantification of HBV and HCV in plasma samples by means of different molecular assays: Comparative study

Introducción: La carga viral es un marcador muy útil para realizar el seguimiento de los pacientes infectados por VHB y VHC. Este trabajo compara ensayos basados en amplificación mediada por transcripción y en PCR a tiempo real con el objetivo de comprobar si pueden ser intercambiables. Material y métodos: Estudio bicéntrico en el que se analizó la carga viral de 147 muestras de plasma de pacientes infectados por VHB y 229 por VHC, mediante ensayos basados en amplificación mediada por transcripción (Aptima® HBV Quant y Aptima® HCV Quant Dx, que utilizan el sistema Panther (Hologic®)) y PCR a tiempo real (COBAS® AmpliPrep / COBAS® TaqMan® y COBAS® 6800), calculando el grado de concordancia entre ellos. Resultados: Se detectó carga viral en ambos equipos en 60 (40,82%) muestras de VHB (mediana del log de la carga viral: COBAS®: 2,51UI/mL (RIC 2,20-3,17), Panther: 2,71UI/mL (RIC 2,21-3,22)) y en 39 (16,96%) muestras de VHC (mediana del log de la carga viral: COBAS®: 3,93UI/mL (RIC 2,24-6,01), Panther: 3,80UI/mL (RIC 1,99-6,14)). La concordancia entre ambos equipos fue de κ=0,943 para VHB y κ=0,925 para VHC. La comparación de las muestras con carga viral detectada mediante los 2 ensayos mostró una correlación alta tanto para VHB (R2=0,86) como para VHC (R2=0,97). Conclusiones: Los ensayos basados tanto en amplificación mediada por transcripción como en PCR a tiempo real pueden ser intercambiables para el manejo de pacientes infectados con VHB y VHC.(AU)

Introduction: Viral load is a very useful marker for monitoring patients infected with HBV and HCV. This work compares assays based on transcription-mediated amplification and on real-time PCR to verify whether they can be interchangeable. Material and methods: a bicentric study, in which 147 plasma samples from patients infected with HBV and 229 with HCV were analyzed, was carried out. Transcription-mediated amplification-based assays (Aptima® HBV Quant and Aptima® HCV Quant Dx, employing Panther system (Hologic®)) and on real-time PCR (COBAS® AmpliPrep / COBAS® TaqMan® and COBAS® 6800) were used and the degree of concordance between them was calculated. Results: Viral load was detected in both systems in 60 (40.82%) HBV samples (median log viral load: COBAS®: 2.51IU/mL (IQR 2.20-3.17), Panther: 2.71IU/mL (IQR 2.21-3.22)) and in 39 (16.96%) HCV samples (median log viral load: COBAS®: 3.93IU/mL (IQR 2.24-6.01), Panther: 3.80IU/mL (IQR 1.99-6.14)). The agreement between both systems was κ=0.943 for HBV and κ=0.925 for HCV. Comparison of viral load samples detected by both assays showed a hight correlation for HBV (R2=0.86) and for HCV (R2=0.97). Conclusions: Both transcription-mediated amplification and on real-time PCR based assays may be interchangeable for the management of patients infected with HBV and HCV.(AU)

Detection and quantification of HBV and HCV in plasma samples by means of different molecular assays: Comparative study.

INTRODUCTION: Viral load is a very useful marker for monitoring patients infected with HBV and HCV. This work compares assays based on transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) and on real-time PCR (RT-PCR) to verify whether they can be interchangeable. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A bicentric study, in which 147 plasma samples from patients infected with HBV and 229 with HCV were analyzed, was carried out. TMA-based assays (Aptima® HBV Quant and Aptima® HCV Quant Dx, employing Panther system (Hologic®)) and RT-PCR (COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan® and COBAS® 6800) were used and the degree of concordance between them was calculated. RESULTS: Viral load was detected in both systems in 60 (40.82%) HBV samples (median log viral load: COBAS: 2.51IU/mL (IQR 2.20-3.17), Panther: 2.71IU/mL (IQR 2.21-3.22)) and in 39 (16.96%) HCV samples (median log viral load: COBAS: 3.93IU/mL (IQR 2.24-6.01), Panther: 3.80IU/mL (IQR 1.99-6.14)). The agreement between both systems was κ=0.943 for HBV and κ=0.925 for HCV. Comparison of viral load samples detected by both assays showed a hight correlation for HBV (R2=0.86) and for HCV (R2=0.97). CONCLUSIONS: Both TMA and RT-PCR based assays may be interchangeable for the management of patients infected with HBV and HCV.

Antibacterial Activity against Clinical Strains of a Natural Polyphenolic Extract from Albariño White Grape Marc.

Infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria are becoming increasingly frequent and sometimes difficult to treat due to the limited number of antibiotics active against them. In addition, they can spread between countries and/or continents, which is a problem of great relevance worldwide. It is, therefore, urgent to find alternatives to treat infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. This study aimed at exploring a possible therapeutic alternative in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Based on the known antibacterial capacity of polyphenols, we tested the antimicrobial activity of a polyphenolic extract of Albariño white grape marc on clinical strains since research on such bacteria has been very scarce until now. First, the extract was obtained using a medium-scale ambient temperature (MSAT) system, which is an efficient and sustainable extractive method. The determinations of the polyphenolic content of the extract and its antioxidant capacity showed good results. Using chromatographic and mass spectrometric tools, 13 remarkable polyphenols were detected in the extract. The antibacterial activity of our grape marc extract against nineteen clinical strain isolates, some of which are multidrug-resistant, was evaluated by means of the calculation of half of the maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) and the value of the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs). In conclusion, the extract showed effectiveness against all clinical strains tested, regardless of their level of antibiotic resistance, and shows promise in the fight against antibiotic resistance.

Antimicrobial Activity of Polyphenols and Natural Polyphenolic Extracts on Clinical Isolates.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global problem that affects people, animals, the environment, and the economy. Many clinically relevant bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, and this fact is emerging as one of the major threats to public health. The lack of new antibiotics, which is due to their time-consuming and costly development, exacerbates the problem. Therefore, it is necessary to identify new antimicrobial agents to treat bacterial and fungal infections. Plant extracts, which are valuable sources of bioactive compounds, mainly polyphenols, play an important role as a new strategy to combat pathogenic microorganisms. There is an extensive body of supporting evidence for the potent antibacterial and antifungal activities of polyphenols. Furthermore, some polyphenols show a synergistic effect when combined with antibiotics and antifungals, suggesting a promising alternative for therapeutic strategies against antibiotic resistance. However, only a few articles are found when searching the antibacterial or antifungal activities of polyphenols employing clinical isolates. Hence, this review focuses on the antimicrobial activity of polyphenols and extracts rich in polyphenols on clinical isolates, organized according to the World Health Organization priority pathogens classification.

Prevalence and incidence of hepatitis delta in patients with chronic hepatitis B in Spain.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a defective agent that only replicates in the presence of the hepatitis B virus. Accordingly, HDV acquisition may occur as superinfection of HBsAg+ carriers or following acute dual HDV and hepatitis B virus exposure. Herein, we examined the global and incident rates of HDV infections in Spain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The presence of anti-HDV antibody and new HDV superinfections was examined in all HBsAg+ patients who attended one large tertiary outclinic in Spain since year 2000. Anti-HDV antibodies were tested repeatedly every 5 years in those previously negative. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 12 years, 478 individuals were diagnosed as HBsAg+. Overall, 64.4% were male, median age was 55 years, 88.1% were native Spaniards, 6.5% were coinfected with HIV, and 7.3% were reactive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies.A total of 19 (4%) patients had anti-HDV antibody at first diagnosis. There were no further HDV seroconversions. Most anti-HDV+ patients were male (n=12), former injection drug users (n=13), and native Spaniards (n=16). Coinfection with HIV was found in six, and 12 had HCV antibodies. Interestingly, three of seven women with delta hepatitis were foreigners (Asian or African), denied injection drug use, were younger than 40 years old, and negative for both HCV and HIV. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of chronic hepatitis delta is currently very low (<5%) among chronic HBsAg+ carriers in Spain, with lower rates in recent years. Moreover, new incident HDV infections were not seen in 478 chronic hepatitis B carriers since year 2000, following drastic declines in injection drug use.

Coinfección pulmonar por Nocardia cyriacigeorgica y Aspergillus fumigatus / Pulmonary co-infection due to Nocardia cyriacigeorgica and Aspergillus fumigatus

Introducción. La nocardiosis pulmonar es una infección poco frecuente causada por bacterias grampositivas aerobias del género Nocardia. Nocardia sp. son microorganismos ambientales de distribución ubicua. Se han descrito unas 50 especies de Nocardia y 30 de ellas se sabe que causan infección en seres humanos. Nocardia cyriacigeorgica se describe por primera vez en 2001. Caso clínico. Presentamos un caso de infección por N. cyriacigeorgica en paciente con historia de linfoma no Hodgkin de células B y diabetes mellitus. Los hallazgos microbiológicos reflejan una posible coinfección por N. cyriacigeorgica y Aspergillus fumigatus. Conclusiones. Los datos de factores de riesgo y antecedentes son fundamentales para detectar el crecimiento de Nocardia sp. en el laboratorio. Por otra parte, el diagnóstico de la aspergilosis pulmonar invasiva es particularmente controvertida, especialmente en los paciente de unidades de cuidados intensivos. Teniendo todo en cuenta, presentamos un caso de una posible coinfección por N. cyriacigeorgica and A. fumigatus en un paciente crítico (AU)

Introduction. Pulmonary nocardiosis is an uncommon pulmonary infection caused by aerobic gram-positive bacteria of the genus Nocardia. Nocardia sp. are environmental organisms spread worldwide. Approximately 50 Nocardia species have been described to date, about 30 of which are known to cause human disease. Nocardia cyriacigeorgica was first reported in 2001. Case report. We report a case of infection caused by N. cyriacigeorgica in a patient with B-cells non-Hodgkin lymphoma and diabetes mellitus. The microbiological findings reflect a possible co-infection by N. cyriacigeorgica and Aspergillus fumigatus. Conclusions. Patient’s background and information related to risk factors are essential to detect the growth of Nocardia sp. in the laboratory. Furthermore, diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is particularly controversial, especially in intensive care units patients. Taking everything into account, we will discuss a possible co-infection by N. cyriacigeorgica and A. fumigatus in a critically ill patient (AU)