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Tobacco smoking continues to be a leading cause of disease and mortality. Recent research has confirmed the important role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) gene cluster on chromosome 15q 24-25 in nicotine dependence and smoking. In this study we tested the association of smoking initiation, age at onset of daily smoking, and heaviness of smoking with five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 cluster. The group of 389 adult subjects of European ancestry from the north of Poland, including 212 ever (140 current and 72 former) and 177 never smokers with mean age 49.26, was genotyped for rs16969868, rs1051730, rs588765, rs6495308, and rs578776 polymorphisms. Distributions of genotypes for rs16969868 and rs1051730 were identical so they were analyzed together. Further analysis revealed the association between rs16969868-1051730 (OR = 2.66; 95% CI: 1.30–5.42) and number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) with heaviness of nicotine addiction measured by the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) (OR = 2.60; 95% CI: 1.24–5.43). No association between these polymorphisms and other phenotypes was found. Similarly, the association between rs588765, rs6495308, rs578776, and analyzed phenotypes was not confirmed. This study provides strong evidence for the role of the CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 cluster in heaviness of nicotine addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in the antibiotic resistance among members of the Enterobacteriaceae family has been observed worldwide. Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative rods are increasingly reported. The treatment of infections caused by Escherichia coli and other Enterobacteriaceae has become an important clinical problem associated with reduced therapeutic possibilities. Antimicrobial carbapenems are considered the last line of defense against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Unfortunately, an increase of carbapenem resistance due to the production of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) enzymes has been observed. In this study we describe the ability of E. coli to produce carbapenemase enzymes based on the results of the combination disc assay with boronic acid performed according to guidelines established by the European Community on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and the biochemical Carba NP test. Moreover, we evaluated the presence of genes responsible for the production of carbapenemases (blaKPC, blaVIM, blaIMP, blaOXA-48) and genes encoding other β-lactamases (blaSHV, blaTEM, blaCTX-M) among E. coli isolate. The tested isolate of E. coli that possessed the blaKPC-3 and blaTEM-34 genes was identified. The tested strain exhibited susceptibility to colistin (0.38 μg/mL) and tigecycline (1 μg/mL). This is the first detection of blaKPC-3 in an E. coli ST479 in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]