Bacterial quality of urinary tract in patients with alkaptonuria.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the current study was to determine whether there is an association between alkaptonuria (AKU) and urinary tract infection (UTI) by exploring the bacterial quality of the urinary tract, as most of the patients with AKU present with frequent occurrence of urinary tract symptoms such as incomplete emptying of urinary bladder, dysuria and nocturia. METHODS: Study samples were collected from 22 participants; 9 from patients with AKU, 9 from individuals who were AKU carriers, and 4 people served as control. Confirmation of AKU diagnosis was established by the ferric chloride test and quantitative determination of urinary homogentisic acid (HGA) levels. RESULTS: In the ferric chloride test, the urine samples of AKU patients showed a characteristic black ring upon addition of few drops of ferric chloride solution. During urinary HGA determination, patients with AKU had increased levels of urinary HGA as compared to carriers and controls. The following 10 bacterial species were isolated from the urinary tract of AKU patients, carriers and controls: Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Escherichia coli, Francisella tularensis, Staphylococcus hominis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Dermacoccus nishinomiyaensis, Kytococcus sedentarius, Serratia fonticola and Granulicatella adiacens. The presence of S. paucimobilis was found in three male patients, and one female each from the carrier and control groups. Almost all study samples were positive for D. nishinomiyaensis and K. sedentarius. S. fonticola and G. adiacens were found only in AKU carrier females. CONCLUSIONS: The results deduced that males show symptoms of arthritis early and more severely than females and by this it appears that there is an association between these symptoms and the percentage of bacterial infection in males that requires more accurate diagnosis and treatment to clarify such relationship. In the current study, males (patients, carriers, and controls) were more likely to have bacterial infections than females (64% vs. 36%). The 16 and 2 bacterial isolates, detected in 7 males and 2 females AKU patients, respectively, revealed that male AKU patients had a 2.3-fold greater rate of bacterial infection than female AKU patients. Therefore, further studies are warranted to investigate if there's any relationship between higher incidence of bacterial infections and development of AKU-related clinical symptoms in the male population.

Phenol biodegradation by plant growth promoting bacterium, S. odorifera: kinetic modeling and process optimization.

One of the main organic pollutants that could result from industrial products and chemical transformations is phenol. In the current study, the kinetics of Serratia odorifera, which was isolated from arable soil, was studied by growing it on broth minimal medium spiked with phenol as only carbon source and energy. The newly isolated plant growth-promoting bacterium (PGPB), S. odorifera, was used for the first time for phenol biodegradation. The growth kinetics parameters (phenol-dependent) including maximum specific growth rate (µmax), half-saturation coefficient (Ks), and the Haldane's growth kinetics inhibition coefficient (Ki), were tested via Haldane inhibition model and resulted on the 0.469 (h -1), 26.6 (mgL-1), and 292 (mgL-1), respectively. The sum of squared error (SSR) of 4.89 × 10-3 was fitted to the experimental data by Haldane equation. The results of phenol biodegradation were fitted into the modified Gombertz model. The increase of phenol concentrations led to increases in both the rate of phenol biodegradation and lagging time. The optimal phenol biodegradation and bacterial growth obtained by S. odorifera, were at 28 °C incubation temperature and a pH of 7.0. The pathway of phenol biodegradation by S. odorifera was proposed in the current study to provide a new insight into synchronization of phenol biodegradation and plant growth-promoting bacteria. This may play an important role in remediation of phenol-contaminated soil besides promoting the plant growth, thus lessening the plant stress.

Simultaneous GC-MS determination of eight phthalates in total and migrated portions of plasticized polymeric toys and childcare articles.

A gas chromatography/mass spectrometric method was developed for the simultaneous determination of eight phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in toys and child care articles that are made of plasticized plastic. The novel method was used to determine the total concentration of the PAEs in addition to the migrated PAEs values into artificial saliva, under conditions that simulate real life situations. The extraction method, which was developed for the first time to determine the total concentration of PAEs, utilized a novel optimization of four parameters involving the solvent, time, temperature and weight of sample. The PAEs were extracted with tetrahydrofuran, as extraction the solvent, and using the ultrasonic water bath shaker for 30min, at room temperature. Another extraction method was developed to determine the migrated PAEs into artificial saliva at pH 6.2 and 37°C, implementing a liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform. Both methods were subjected to validation steps in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy and recovery, which ensured that all obtained results were well within the norms of acceptable limits and specifications. The analytes were separated at the following retention times: 4.99, 5.21, 5.31, 6.63, 7.41, 9.05min for di-"isobutyl" phthalate (DIBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), bis(2-methoxyethyl)phthalate (DMEP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP), respectively. The chromatographic peaks corresponding to di-"isononyl" phthalate (DINP) and di-"isononyl" phthalate (DIDP), were separated, using the extracted ion chromatogram (EIC) mode within the time ranges of 8.05-12.10min for DINP and 8.50-14.50min for DIDP. The instrument detection limits for DIBP, DBP, DMEP, BBP, DEHP, DnOP, DINP and DIDP were determined at 0.100, 0.100, 0.045, 0.035, 0.015, 0.370, 0.320, 0.260µg/ml, respectively. The calibration curve working ranges were determined at 0.5-25µg/ml for DIBP, DBP, DMEP, BBP and DEHP, 2-100µg/ml for DnOP and 5-100µg/ml for DINP and DIDP. The coefficients of variation (precision) for the total PAEs method were in the range 0.55-12.10% and for the migration method were in the range 0.72-7.70%. Recovery values for total PAEs and for the migrated PAEs were ranged within 90.6-111.7% and 86.3-117.2%; respectively. Both developed methods were used to survey the Jordanian market, where twenty seven samples were collected and tested for plastic type, total PAEs and migrated PAEs. Seventeen of those samples were found to be polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and all of them containing total PAEs having concentrations in excess of the allowed limit of 0.1% (w/w). The rest of the samples were non-PVC and only one of them containing PAEs, but below the allowed limit. In contrast, all the migration results were found to be well within the allowed limits. It was also found that as the PAEs total concentration increase, the corresponding migrated value increase, while the opposite trend holds for in the PAEs molecular weight.