agar and HIV-Infections

Antibacterial resistance is a growing concern worldwide, including in Mozambique. Diarrhea is an important cause of mortality in Mozambique, yet few local studies have reported on the resistance of bacterial pathogens in this context. Therefore, this study aims to characterize antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter spp. among patients with diarrhea, including those who are HIV-infected and-uninfected.. We conducted antibiotic susceptibility testing on 157 stool isolates recovered from 129 patients aged between 0 and 80 years with diarrhea, including HIV infected (n = 68) and-uninfected individuals (n = 61), assisted at two health centers in Maputo city. The isolates comprised of 99 Salmonella, 45 Shigella and 13 Campylobacter strains. The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was used on Mueller-Hinton II agar for Salmonella and Shigella spp., while Mueller-Hinton II agar with 5% defibrinated sheep blood was used for Campylobacter spp. We tested six antibiotics listed on the national essential medicines list, including ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, azithromycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, gentamicin, and tetracycline.. All isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic. A high percentage of Salmonella spp. isolates were found to be resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (89.9%, n = 89), erythromycin (88.9%, n = 88) and tetracycline (76.8%, n = 76). In addition, 86.6% (n = 39) and 68.9% (n = 31) of Shigella isolates were resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline, respectively. The majority of Campylobacter isolates (92.3%, n = 12) were resistant to erythromycin, azithromycin and tetracycline. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was observed in 79.8% of Salmonella spp., 76.9% of Campylobacter spp., and 57.8% of Shigella spp. Drug susceptibility profiles for Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter were similar in both HIV-1 infected and uninfected patients. However, Shigella spp. isolates obtained from patients without HIV infection were significantly more likely to be resistant to erythromycin, azithromycin or to exhibit multidrug resistance than those obtained from patients with HIV-1 infection (p < 0.05). All Shigella spp. and Campylobacter spp. isolates were susceptible to gentamicin.. Our study highlights concerning rates of antibiotic resistance and MDR among diarrheal bacterial pathogens in Mozambique. Further research is needed to understand the impact of HIV, ART therapy and immunosuppression on antibiotic resistance. Urgent interventions are essential to prevent the spread of resistant strains.

Topics: Agar; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Azithromycin; Bacteria; Campylobacter; Diarrhea; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Drug Resistance, Multiple; Erythromycin; Gentamicins; HIV Infections; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Mozambique; Salmonella; Sheep; Shigella; Tetracycline; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination

To obtain DNA aptamers with a highly specific affinity to HIV gp41 antigen using SELEX screening for detection of HIV.. The specific DNA aptamers of HIV gp41 antigen were screened from the double-stranded DNA derived from the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) library with agarose beads as the supportive medium and HIV gp41 antigen as the target molecule using SELEX technique and real-time quantitative PCR.. The secondary ssDNA library obtained after 6 rounds of screening was amplified by PCR to obtain dsDNA. The dsDNA was linked with pMD. We successfully obtained DNA aptamers with highly specific affinity to the HIV gp41 antigen from random single-stranded oligonucleotide library, and the obtained aptamers have the ability to antagonize HIV gp41 antigen.

Topics: Agar; Aptamers, Nucleotide; Base Sequence; DNA; DNA, Single-Stranded; Gene Library; HIV Envelope Protein gp41; HIV Infections; Humans; SELEX Aptamer Technique; Sensitivity and Specificity

CHROMagar has been reported to be useful for the rapid and accurate identification of Candida species. We tested 135 isolates of Candida species isolated from oropharyngeal candidiasis in HIV patients and found that it was useful in the presumptive identification of Candida albicans and Candida krusei. Occasional strains of C. tropicalis produced colonies with a greenish tinge making it difficult to differentiate from C. albicans.

Topics: Agar; Candida; Candidiasis, Oral; Chromogenic Compounds; Culture Media; HIV Infections; Humans; Mycological Typing Techniques; Sensitivity and Specificity

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a low-cost method, the thin layer agar (TLA) method, for the diagnosis of smear-negative patients. This prospective study was performed in Homa Bay District Hospital in Kenya. Out of 1,584 smear-negative sputum samples, 212 (13.5%) were positive by culture in Löwenstein-Jensen medium (LJ) and 220 (14%) were positive by the TLA method. The sensitivities of LJ and TLA were 71% and 74%, respectively. TLA could become an affordable method for the diagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis in resource-limited settings, with results available within 2 weeks.

Topics: Agar; Bacteriological Techniques; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Culture Media; HIV Infections; Humans; Kenya; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Prospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sputum; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and intestinal parasites are common in Brazil. Previous studies have shown that infection with Strongyloides stercoralis is frequently associated with HIV infection. Strongyloidiasis is difficult to diagnosis and stool examination with conventional techniques fails to detect the helminth larvae. We made a prospective study, to test the efficacy of the agar plate technique to detect S. stercoralis in 211 HIV-positive patients and 213 HIV-negative patients in the city of Itajaí, Brazil, between September 2001 and June 2002. The feces samples of these patients were processed and analyzed according to the following methods: Lutz, formalin ethyl acetate, Baermann, Harada-Mori and agar plate culture. HIV-positive patients were more frequently infected by S. stercoralis (odds ratio= 5,.687). Among the methods used on fecal specimens, the larvae of S. stercoralis were most efficiently detected by the agar plate (69.7%) method, followed by the Baermann and the formalin ethyl acetate methods (48.5%) (P=0.01), Lutz (42.4%) (P=0.01), and Harada-Mori culture (24%) (P=0.001). Therefore agar plate culture is the most efficient method for the detection of S. stercoralis larvae and this technique should be the test of choice, especially in immunocompromised patients.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Agar; Animals; Culture Media; Feces; Female; HIV Infections; Humans; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic; Male; Parasite Egg Count; Prospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Strongyloides stercoralis; Strongyloidiasis

Candida dubliniensis, an emerging oral pathogen, phenotypically resembles Candida albicans so closely that it is easily misidentified as such. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of two phenotypic methods, growth at 45 degrees C and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) reduction, for confirming presumptive identification of C. dubliniensis and C. albicans by colony color on CHROMagar Candida (CAC) medium. A combination of these methods was used to establish the prevalence of oral C. dubliniensis in an Italian population of 45 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected subjects. Twenty-two samples (48.9%) were positive for yeasts on CAC medium producing a total of 37 fungal isolates. The colony color and 45 degrees C growth ability test correctly identified all C. dubliniensis and C. albicans isolates (5/37, 13.5%, and 16/37, 43.2%, respectively), while assessment of TTC reduction misidentified one C. albicans isolate. The isolation rate of C. dubliniensis was 11.1% (5/45 patients). All of the C. dubliniensis isolates were highly susceptible to fluconazole (MIC = 0.5 microg/ml). The combination of CAC medium screening with growth at 45 degrees C and TTC reduction tests may represent a simple, reliable and inexpensive identification protocol for C. dubliniensis.

Topics: Adult; Agar; Antifungal Agents; Candida; Candida albicans; Candidiasis, Oral; Chromogenic Compounds; Colony Count, Microbial; Coloring Agents; Culture Media; DNA, Fungal; Drug Resistance, Fungal; Female; Fluconazole; HIV Infections; Humans; Italy; Male; Middle Aged; Mouth; Phenotype; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Temperature; Tetrazolium Salts

Chondroitin sulfate, a fusion inhibitor found in human milk, appears to work by blocking the ability of a virus, such as HIV, to infect a cell. There are questions about whether cow or goat milk can offer the same fusion-inhibiting benefits. One sulfated monosaccharide, glucosamine 6-sulfate, appears to have significant anti-HIV activity. Carrageenan, a seaweed derivative, shows promise as a vaginal microbicide, and should be tested further to determine its effectiveness against HIV transmission.

Topics: Agar; Carrageenan; CD4 Antigens; Chondroitin Sulfates; Complementary Therapies; Drug Therapy, Combination; Excipients; Glucosamine; HIV Envelope Protein gp120; HIV Infections; HIV-1; Humans; Milk, Human; Polysaccharides; Seaweed; Silicon Dioxide; Sulfates; T-Lymphocytes