Various forms of chemically induced liver injury and their detection by diagnostic procedures.
(1/3022)
A large number of chemical agents, administered for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes, can produce various types of hepatic injury by several mechanisms. Some agents are intrinsically hepatotoxic, and others produce hepatic injury only in the rare, uniquely susceptible individual. Idiosyncrasy of the host is the mechanism for most types of drug-induced hepatic injury. It may reflect allergy to the drug or a metabolic aberation of the host permitting the accumulation of hepatotoxic metabolites. The syndromes of hepatic disease produced by drugs have been classified hepatocellular, hepatocanalicular, mixed and canalicular. Measurement of serum enzyme activities has provided a powerful tool for studies of hepatotoxicity. Their measurement requires awareness of relative specificity, knowledge of the mechanisms involved, and knowledge of the relationship between known hepatotoxic states and elevated enzyme activities. (+info)
Synthesis of bacteriophage phi6 double-stranded ribonucleic acid.
(2/3022)
Uracil was incorporated into all three bacteriophage phi6 dsRNA segments throughout the infection cycle; the rates of incorporation into each of the three segments were approx. constant for the first 15 to 20 min and then increased rapidly until 50 min after infection. The medium and small dsRNA segments were produced in greater amounts than the large dsRNA segment at all times in the infection cycle. Inhibition of host RNA and protein synthesis with rifampin and chloramphenicol revealed that virus dsRNA synthesis immediately after infection was independent of either host function. (+info)
Evaluation of bactericidal activities of LY333328, vancomycin, teicoplanin, ampicillin-sulbactam, trovafloxacin, and RP59500 alone or in combination with rifampin or gentamicin against different strains of vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus by time-kill curve methods.
(3/3022)
This in vitro study evaluated the activities of vancomycin, LY333328, and teicoplanin alone and in combination with gentamicin, rifampin, and RP59500 against Staphylococcus aureus isolates with intermediate susceptibilities to vancomycin. Ampicillin-sulbactam and trovafloxacin were also evaluated. LY333328 and ampicillin-sulbactam resulted in bactericidal activity against all isolates. The combination of gentamicin with glycopeptides showed synergistic activity, while rifampin had no added benefit. (+info)
Transcription of the stationary-phase-associated hspX gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is inversely related to synthesis of the 16-kilodalton protein.
(4/3022)
The 16-kDa protein, an alpha-crystallin homologue, is one of the most abundant proteins in stationary-phase Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Here, transcription and translation of the hspX gene, which encodes the 16-kDa protein, have been investigated by Northern blotting analysis, primer extension, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a microaerophilic stationary-phase model. Two transcripts of about 2.5 and 1.1 kb were demonstrated by Northern blot analysis and hybridized to the hspX gene probe. Primer extension analysis revealed that the transcription start site is located 33 nucleotides upstream of the hspX gene start codon. The cellular level of the hspX mRNA was maximum in log-phase bacilli and was markedly reduced after 20 days in unagitated culture, when the organisms had entered the stationary phase. A third transcript of 0.5 kb was detected 0.6 kb downstream of the hspX gene; this transcript has a transcriptional pattern completely different from that of the 1.1- and 2.5-kb products, suggesting that there may be another gene in this region. In contrast to the high level of hspX mRNA in log-phase bacilli, 16-kDa protein synthesis was low in log-phase bacteria and rose to its maximum after 20 days. In both log-phase and stationary-phase bacteria the mRNA was unstable, with a half-life of 2 min, which indicated that the transcript stability was growth rate independent and not a general means for controlling the gene expression. However, the cellular content of 16-kDa protein, while low in log-phase bacteria, rose to a maximum at 10 days and remained at this high level for up to 50 days, which indicates that this protein is a stable molecule with a low turnover rate. These data suggest that the regulation of hspX expression during entry into and maintenance of stationary phase involves translation initiation efficiency and protein stability as potential mechanisms. (+info)
Molecular evidence for heterogeneity of the multiple-drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis population in Scotland (1990 to 1997).
(5/3022)
Multiple-drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-MTB) has been well studied in hospitals or health care institutions and in human immunodeficiency virus-infected populations. However, the characteristics of MDR-MTB in the community have not been well investigated. An understanding of its prevalence and circulation within the community will help to estimate the problem and optimize the strategies for control and prevention of its development and transmission. In this study, MDR-MTB isolates from Scotland collected between 1990 and 1997 were characterized, along with non-drug-resistant isolates. The results showed that they were genetically diverse, suggesting they were unrelated to each other and had probably evolved independently. Several new alleles of rpoB, katG, and ahpC were identified: rpoB codon 525 (ACC-->AAC; Thr525Asn); katG codon 128 (CGG-->CAG; Arg128Gln) and codon 291 (GCT-->CCT; Ala291Pro); and the ahpC synonymous substitution at codon 6 (ATT-->ATC). One of the MDR-MTB isolates from an Asian patient had an IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism pattern very similar to that of the MDR-MTB W strain and had the same drug resistance-related alleles but did not have any epidemiological connection with the W strains. Additionally, a cluster of M. tuberculosis isolates was identified in our collection of 715 clinical isolates; the isolates in this cluster had genetic backgrounds very similar to those of the W strains, one of which had already developed multiple drug resistances. The diverse population of MDR-MTB in Scotland, along with a low incidence of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis, has implications for the control of the organism and prevention of its spread. (+info)
Rapid film-based determination of antibiotic susceptibilities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains by using a luciferase reporter phage and the Bronx Box.
(6/3022)
Detecting antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is becoming increasingly important with the global recognition of drug-resistant strains and their adverse impact on clinical outcomes. Current methods of susceptibility testing are either time-consuming or costly; rapid, reliable, simple, and inexpensive methods would be highly desirable, especially in the developing world where most tuberculosis is found. The luciferase reporter phage is a unique reagent well-suited for this purpose: upon infection with viable mycobacteria, it produces quantifiable light which is not observed in mycobacterial cells treated with active antimicrobials. In this report, we describe a modification of our original assay, which allows detection of the emitted light with a Polaroid film box designated the Bronx Box. The technique has been applied to 25 M. tuberculosis reference and clinical strains, and criteria are presented which allow rapid and simple discrimination among strains susceptible or resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, the major antituberculosis agents. (+info)
rpoB mutations in multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated in Italy.
(7/3022)
Mutations of rpoB associated with rifampin resistance were studied in 37 multidrug-resistant (MDR) clinical strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated in Italy. At least one mutated codon was found in each MDR strain. It was always a single-base substitution leading to an amino acid change. Nine different rpoB alleles, three of which had not been reported before, were found. The relative frequencies of specific mutations in this sample were different from those previously reported from different geographical areas, since 22 strains (59.5%) carried the mutated codon TTG in position 531 (Ser-->Leu) and 11 (29.7%) had GAC in position 526 (His-->Asp). (+info)
Integron-mediated rifampin resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
(8/3022)
A new rifampin resistance gene, arr-2, has been found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The ARR-2 protein shows 54% amino acid identity to the rifampin ADP-ribosylating transferase encoded by the arr gene from Mycobacterium smegmatis. This arr-2 gene is located on a gene cassette within a class I integron. (+info)