Tackling Antibiotic Resistance: Influence of Aliphatic Branches on Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Polytriazoles against ESKAPE Group Pathogens.

One of the most important threats to public health is the appearance of multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria, since they are the cause of a high number of deaths worldwide. Consequently, the preparation of new effective antibacterial agents that do not generate antimicrobial resistance is urgently required. We report on the synthesis of new linear cationic antibacterial polytriazoles that could be a potential source of new antibacterial compounds. These polymers were prepared by thermal- or copper-catalyzed click reactions of azide and alkyne functions. The antibacterial activity of these materials can be modulated by varying the size or nature of their side chains, as this alters the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance. Antibacterial activity was tested against pathogens of the ESKAPE group. The P3TD polymer, which has butylated side chains, was found to have the highest bactericidal activity. The toxicity of selected polytriazoles was investigated using human red blood cells and a human gingival fibroblast cell line. The propensity of prepared polytriazoles to induce resistance in certain bacteria was studied. Some of them were found to not produce resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The interaction of these polytriazoles with the Escherichia coli membrane produces both depolarization and disruption of the membrane.

Evaluation of the viasure Neisseria gonorrhoeae ciprofloxacin resistant assay for the simultaneous identification and direct detection of ciprofloxacin susceptibility.

The detection of resistance without the need for culture is essential to establish a guided treatment against Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections. We evaluated the VIASURE Neisseria gonorrhoeae ciprofloxacin resistant Real Time PCR Detection Kit (CerTest Biotec S.L, Zaragoza, Spain) for the simultaneous identification and direct detection of ciprofloxacin susceptibility in 88 NG isolates and 133 positive NG clinical samples of different anatomical location. The sensitivity for NG detection was 93.2% and the specificity 100%. The sensitivity of the test to characterize resistance/susceptibility to ciprofloxacin was (96.5%). In conclusion, the test evaluated is suitable for use to establish a targeted therapy with oral ciprofloxacin in case of not detecting resistance.

Comparison of the Cobas 4800 Human Papillomavirus test against a combination of the Amplicor Human Papillomavirus and the Linear Array tests for detection of HPV types 16 and 18 in cervical samples.

The greater prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 compared to the other high-risk HPV types of cervical cancer led to the development of clinical tests that detect both types separately from other genotypes. One method is the Roche Cobas 4800 HPV test, which is based on a real-time PCR. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Cobas 4800 HPV test for detecting genotypes 16 and 18 by comparing the results with those obtained in a combination of the Roche Amplicor HPV assay and the Roche Linear Array (LA) HPV genotyping assay. Excellent concordance was found between both methods (92.7%, kappa value=0.872). The Cobas 4800 HPV test could be used as a single test for identifying HPV types 16 and 18 directly from clinical specimens.