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Introduction: In the last 40 years, Acinetobacter baumannii has been among the bacteria known to acquire multiple mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and, as a result, it is now one of the pathogens involved in healthcare-associated infections with multidrug resistant strains. Our study aimed to assess the production of carbapenemases in carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii by means of phenotypic methods and polymerase chain reaction technique (PCR), as well as to appraise the performances of carbapenemase detection by phenotypic tests compared to the PCR approach. Materials and Methods: We used phenotypic methods (E-test MBL, CIM, MHT, Rosco® Kit/OXA/MBL, OXA-23 K-SeT® assay) to investigate the production of carbapenemases in 43 carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates, and PCR to screen for the genes blaOXA-23, blaOXA-24, blaOXA-58, blaOXA-51, blaVIM, blaIMP and blaNDM. Results: The carbapenem inactivation method (CIM) at 2 hours, CIM at 4h, OXA-23 K-SeT® assay, Rosco® Kit/OXA, and modified Hodge test (MHT) identified 26%, 63%, 65%, 81%, and 42% carbapenemase-producing isolates, respectively. The phenotypic E-test MBL detected metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) production in 79% of strains. PCR revealed blaOXA-51 in all the isolates, blaOXA-23 in 35/43 (81%), blaOXA-24 in 28/43 (65%), blaVIM in 7/43 (3%) and blaOXA-58, blaIMP, blaNDM were not detected. Conclusion: Because phenotypic tests do not highlight all the carbapenemase-producing strains, their results must be interpreted with caution relative to their level of performance, and negative results should be confirmed by means of PCR.

Sutures are classified into non-absorbable and absorbable, and mechanical properties of these materials vary by the composition. In this study we analyze four different types of sutures used commonly in surgery: silk, nylon, polyglycolic acid (PGA) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The materials were chosen to represent a wide range of suture material categories: absorbable and nonresorbable, monofilament and multifilament, natural and synthetic in order to assess their mechanical properties but also the bacterial adherence to each type. The objective of this study was to measure the total bacterial adherence by using real time PCR at 7 days postop and to analyze the antibacterial and mechanical properties comparatively depending on the type and composition of sutures. Tensile properties such as maximum tensile load, elongation rate, stiffness and energy absorbed before breakage were taken into consideration. Experimental determination pointed out that the average total bacterial load was lowest for PTFE and highest for silk. The results of the study are useful in choosing an appropriate suture wire according to the mechanical properties taking into account the bacterial load of the surgical site in order to aid in tissue repair.

Objective: This study aimed to identify possible differences between blood culture-negative and blood culture-positive groups of infective endocarditis (IE), and explore the associations between biological parameters and in-hospital mortality. Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients hospitalized for IE between 2007 and 2017. Epidemiological, clinical and paraclinical characteristics, by blood culture-negative and positive groups, were collected. The best predictors of in-hospital mortality based on the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and AUC (area under the curve) results were identified. Results: A total of 126 IE patients were included, 54% with negative blood cultures at admission. Overall, the in-hospital mortality was 28.6%, higher in the blood culture-negative than positive group (17.5% vs. 11.1%, p = 0.207). A significant increase in the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Excluding International Normalized Ratio (MELD-XI) score was observed in the blood culture-negative group (p = 0.004), but no baseline characteristics differed between the groups. The best laboratory predictors of in-hospital death in the total study group were the neutrophil count (AUC = 0.824), white blood cell count (AUC = 0.724) and MELD-XI score (AUC = 0.700). Conclusion: Classic laboratory parameters, such as the white blood cell count and neutrophil count, were associated with in-hospital mortality in infective endocarditis. In addition, MELD-XI was a good predictor of in-hospital death.

The diagnosis of periodontal disease is mainly based on use of clinical and radiographic evidence. In this study we employed a quantitative PCR analysis of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Treponema denticola as species strongly involved in periodontal diseases, burden in periodontal pockets to detect the main sampling factors that interfere with qPCR results. From 22 patients with advanced periodontal disease, subgingival plaque was comparatively collected by paper points and periodontal Gracey curettes. Samples were collected from the same situs in presence of gingival bleeding and absence of bleeding. The concordance and agreement of results between samples were assessed. The present study demonstrates that subgingival plaque sampling with sterile absorbable paper points is often accompanied by gingival bleeding resulting in quantification biases of periodontal pathogens.

The purpose of this study was to detect bacterial periodontal DNA from subgingival dental plaque and serum in patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis. The study group included 19 patients with periodontitis and refractory rheumatoid arthritis. The patients were clinically examined and diagnosed and the bacterial DNA was detected in the subgingival bacterial plate and serum by PCR. Severe chronic periodontitis was the most commonly diagnosed (42.2%). The DNA of periodontopathogenic bacteria was detected 100% in subgingival plate samples, and in serum samples it was identified in 84.2% of cases. The most commonly found species in subgingival plate samples were P. intermedia (100%), T. denticola (84.2%) and P. gingivalis (78.9%). In serum samples, the most frequently detected species were P. intermedia (89.4% and 73.6% respectively) and P. gingivalis (57.8% and 42.1%, respectively). A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis did not show statistically significant differences between samples. This finding suggests that it could be an association because the same bacteria species detected in the serum were present in bacterial plaque samples. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis contain levels of oral pathogens in the serum and subgingival plaque that are common to red complex organisms, namely Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia and Prevotella intermedia.

Eggs from avian hybrid ROSS-308 have undergone incubation process, after previously being controlled, sanitized, measured and weighed. We made three groups of eggs, one control (LM) and two experimental (LE1 and LE2).The 3 groups were homogeneous, both as a weight (59.47 to 62.371 g) and volume (55.417 to 58.177 cm3) and surface (59.315 to 72.305 cm2). The eggs of the two experimental groups were injected 0.1 mL of a solution of magnesium nitrate, solution which had a concentration of 0.16%, for LE1 and of 0.61% for LE2. The timing of injection of the solution was at 2, 4, 6 and 8 days after the beginning of the incubation process, for both experimental groups. At the end of incubation period we studied both embryos and the resulting offspring. They were weighed, measured and evaluated in terms of necropsy, and some of them were slaughtered and dissected, extracting from them a series of body organs such as the heart, liver, stomach and intestinal mass. From the heart some histological samples were taken which were processed by paraffin sectioning techniques to yield 20 three-color (HEA) stained histological slides. These samples were studied by optic microscopy and we highlighted the modifications that appeared to the myocardial tissue. Heart weighted between 0.3308 to 0.3843 g, representing 0.807 to 1.062% of the body weight. Myocardial tissue has undergone significant pathological changes such as metaplasia of the vascular wall, perivascular edema, disintegration and degeneration of muscle cells and myocardial steatosis.

Associated to pregnancy hormonal variations in plasma are favorable conditions to developing or exacerbating preexistent periodontitis ...

Magnesium nitrate, a substance occurring naturally in soil and water, or obtainable through synthesis, is mostly used as a compound in plant fertilizers. If animals ingest food previously treated with large amounts of magnesium nitrate, residues of it may remain in their flesh, then can reach the human body. Epidemiological studies suggest that high levels of nitrates in food and water can cause congenital malformations and spontaneous abortions in humans. The goal of the present study was to determine the effects of magnesium nitrate on the development of chicken embryos, and to observe the changes induced in their cephalic extremity. Egg inoculation with a magnesium nitrate solution of two different concentrations (0.16 and 0.61%, respectively) showed that: the higher concentration affected the hatching process (32.64% of the viable embryos, the rest of them dying at 43-45 embryonic stages/HH), while 2.04% of them evidenced severe malformations of the cephalic extremity (abnormally developed jaw and beak, absence of eyelids, growths in the occipital and frontal areas of the skull).