Experimental production of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis: comparison of serological and immunological responses using pili fractions of Moraxella bovis.
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The effect of vaccinating cattle and mice on the development of keratoconjunctivitis was studied. Cattle were vaccinated with whole cells, disrupted cells and pili fractions of three strains of Moraxella bovis. Mice were vaccinated with pili fractions of three strains. The resistance of all vaccinated animals was challenged with virulent cultures of M. bovis. In an attempt to correlate the response seen after vaccination and challenge with a pili fraction of M. bovis, vaccinated cattle and mice were grouped on the basis of signs of disease manifested and compared on the basis of serological responses. Serum samples were tested for antibodies by a gel diffusion precipitin test. A greater number of the sera of resistant cattle had antibodies to the homologous pili antigen than those of vaccinated nonresistant cattle. Cattle vaccinated with disrupted cells were not resistant to infectious bovine kerato-conjuctivitis and their sera lacked antibodies against the pili antigens. Vaccinated mice were more resistant to infectious bovine kerato-conjuctivitis and their sera lacked antibodies against the pili antigens. Vaccinated mice were more resistant to challenge exposure by homologous than heterologous cultures. A greater number of the sera of resistant mice had antibodies to pili antigens than nonresistant mice. (+info)
Clindamycin plus gentamicin as expectant therapy for presumed mixed infections.
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The prevalence of obligate anaerobes was studied prospectively in 60 patients with severe sepsis of intra-abdominal, soft tissue, female genital or oropulmonary origin. In addition, the efficacy of clindamycin (for anaerobes) plus gentamicin (for aerobic bacteria, especially coliforms) as initial empiric therapy in these patients was evaluated. Among 54 patients with cultural proof of infection, anaerobic pathogens were recovered from 52%. Nineteen patients had bacteremia; Bacteroides fragilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most prevalent pathogens, being isolated in five patients each. Infection was eradicated in 56 of the 60 patients (93%). Mortality related to sepsis was 7% in the entire group, 16% in patients with bacteremia and 2% in patients without bacteremia. Eighty-five percent of aerobic isolates tested were susceptible in vitro to either gentamicin or clindamycin; 97% of anaerobic isolates were inhibited by 5 mug/ml of clindamycin. (+info)
Phenotype of mice and macrophages deficient in both phagocyte oxidase and inducible nitric oxide synthase.
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The two genetically established antimicrobial mechanisms of macrophages are production of reactive oxygen intermediates by phagocyte oxidase (phox) and reactive nitrogen intermediates by inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2). Mice doubly deficient in both enzymes (gp91(phox-/-)/NOS2(-/-)) formed massive abscesses containing commensal organisms, mostly enteric bacteria, even when reared under specific pathogen-free conditions with antibiotics. Neither parental strain showed such infections. Thus, phox and NOS2 appear to compensate for each other's deficiency in providing resistance to indigenous bacteria, and no other pathway does so fully. Macrophages from gp91(phox-/-)/NOS2(-/-) mice could not kill virulent Listeria. Their killing of S. typhimurium, E. coli, and attenuated Listeria was markedly diminished but demonstrable, establishing the existence of a mechanism of macrophage antibacterial activity independent of phox and NOS2. (+info)
Receptor clearance obscures the magnitude of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor responses in mice to endotoxin or local infections.
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Marrow cells from mice lacking high-affinity receptors for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF; betac-/- mice) were shown to bind and internalize much less GM-CSF than cells from normal (betac+/+) mice. betac-/- mice were used to determine the effect of negligible receptor-mediated clearance on detectible GM-CSF responses to the intravenous injection of endotoxin or the intraperitoneal injection of casein plus microorganisms. Unlike the minor serum GM-CSF responses to endotoxin seen in betac+/+ mice, serum GM-CSF levels rose 30-fold to 9 ng/mL in betac-/- mice even though loss of GM-CSF in the urine was greater than in betac+/+ mice. Organs from betac-/- and betac+/+ mice had a similar capacity to produce GM-CSF in vitro, as did peritoneal cells from both types of mice when challenged in vitro by casein. However, when casein was injected intraperitoneally, betac-/- mice developed higher and more sustained levels of GM-CSF than did betac+/+ mice. The data indicated that receptor-dependent removal of GM-CSF masks the magnitude of GM-CSF responses to endotoxin and local infections. Because of this phenomenon, serum GM-CSF concentrations can be a misleading index of the occurrence or nonoccurrence of GM-CSF responses to infections. (+info)
In vivo activities of peptidic prodrugs of novel aminomethyl tetrahydrofuranyl-1 beta-methylcarbapenems.
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A series of novel aminomethyl tetrahydrofuranyl (THF)-1 beta-methylcarbapenems which have excellent broad-spectrum antibacterial activities exhibit modest efficacies against acute lethal infections (3.8 mg/kg of body weight against Escherichia coli and 0.9 mg/kg against Staphylococcus aureus) in mice when they are administered orally. In an effort to improve the efficacies of orally administered drugs through enhanced absorption by making use of a peptide-mediated transport system, several different amino acids were added at the aminomethyl THF side chains of the carbapenem molecules. The resulting peptidic prodrugs with L-amino acids demonstrated improved efficacy after oral administration, while the D forms were less active than the parent molecules. After oral administration increased (3 to 10 times) efficacy was exhibited with the alanine-, valine-, isoleucine-, and phenylalanine-substituted prodrugs against acute lethal infections in mice. Median effective doses (ED50s) of < 1 mg/kg against infections caused by S. aureus, E. coli, Enterobacter cloacae, or penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae were obtained after the administration of single oral doses. Several of the peptidic prodrugs were efficacious against Morganella morganii, Serratia marcescens, penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, and E. coli infections, with ED50s of 1 to 14 mg/kg by oral administration compared with ED50s of 14 to > 32 mg/kg for the parent molecules. In general, the parent molecules demonstrated greater efficacy than the prodrugs against these same infections when the drugs were administered by the subcutaneous route. The parent molecule was detectable in the sera of mice after oral administration of the peptidic prodrugs. (+info)
Temporal and multiple quantitative trait loci analyses of resistance to bacterial wilt in tomato permit the resolution of linked loci.
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Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne bacterium that causes the serious disease known as bacterial wilt in many plant species. In tomato, several QTL controlling resistance have been found, but in different studies, markers spanning a large region of chromosome 6 showed strong association with the resistance. By using two different approaches to analyze the data from a field test F3 population, we show that at least two separate loci approximately 30 cM apart on this chromosome are most likely involved in the resistance. First, a temporal analysis of the progression of symptoms reveals a distal locus early in the development of the disease. As the disease progresses, the maximum LOD peak observed shifts toward the proximal end of the chromosome, obscuring the distal locus. Second, although classical interval mapping could only detect the presence of one locus, a statistical "two-QTL model" test, specifically adapted for the resolution of linked QTL, strongly supported the hypothesis for the presence of two loci. These results are discussed in the context of current molecular knowledge about disease resistance genes on chromosome 6 and observations made by tomato breeders during the production of bacterial wilt-resistant varieties. (+info)
The in-vitro activity of HMR 3647, a new ketolide antimicrobial agent.
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The in-vitro activity of HMR 3647, a novel ketolide, was investigated in comparison with those of erythromycin A, roxithromycin, clarithromycin (14-membered ring macrolides), amoxycillin-clavulanate and ciprofloxacin against 719 recent clinical Gram-positive, Gram-negative and anaerobic isolates and type cultures. HMR 3647 generally demonstrated greater activity than the other compounds with MIC90s of < or =0.5 mg/L, except for Staphylococcus epidermidis (MIC90 > 128 mg/L), Haemophilus influenzae (MIC90 = 2 mg/L), Enterococcus faecalis (MIC90 = 2 mg/L), Enterococcus faecium (MIC90 = 1 mg/L) and the anaerobes, Bacteroides fragilis (MIC90 = 2 mg/L) and Clostridium difficile (MIC90 = 1 mg/L). In general, an increase in the size of the inoculum from 10(4) to 10(6) cfu on selected strains had little effect on the MICs of HMR 3647. Additionally, the in-vitro activity of HMR 3647 was not affected by the presence of either 20 or 70% (v/v) human serum. The antichlamydial activity of HMR 3647 was generally greater than that of commonly used antichlamydial antimicrobials. (+info)
Candidate bacterial conditions.
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This article provides background information on bacterial diseases and discusses those that are candidates for elimination or eradication. Only one disease, neonatal tetanus, is a strong candidate for elimination. Others, including Haemophilus influenzae b infection, leprosy, diphtheria, pertussis, tuberculosis, meningococcal disease, congenital syphilis, trachoma and syphilis are important causes of morbidity and mortality in industrialized and developing countries. For all these diseases, eradication/elimination is not likely because of the characteristics of the disease and limitations in the interventions. (+info)