ABSTRACT
Background: Sporotrichosis is caused by a dimorphic fungal species, Sporothrix schenckii (S. schenckii). The enzyme acid phosphatase is pervasive among yeast and yeast like fungi. It has been studied in various fungi like Aspergillus oryzae, Candida albicans etc. but in S. schenckii little is known about enzyme acid phosphatase. The present study depicts the in-vitro influence of Potassium Iodide (KI) on the enzyme acid phosphatase produced by the S. schenckii (yeast form).Methods: A master culture was prepared by incorporating the standard strain of S. schenckii in YNB (Yeast Nitrogen Base) medium and was incubated at 37ºC. After preparing the increasing concentrations with KI in YNB medium, 1.0 mL suspension of master culture was inoculated into each bottle and incubated at 37ºC for different time period 6th, 12th, 18th day (early, mid, peak of log period) respectively. After centrifuging, a 5% homogenate was prepared, which was used for acid phosphatase enzyme assay.Results: The mean acid phosphatase level of control specimen was 20.9±2.01, 50.0±2.25, 45.0±5.10 μg and test specimens was ranged from 14.9±4.89 to 20.2±3.49, 10.2±4.19 to 40.0±6.39 and 10.0±1.81 to 34.7±6.08 μg on day 6, 12 and 18 respectively. The mean value was lower significantly for all the test concentrations as compared to control (p<0.05).Conclusions: The low activity of the enzyme acid phosphatase indicates that KI has inhibitory effect on the growth of S. schenckii that has led to decrease in the activity of the enzyme.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The incidence of Candida has been on rise worldwide. Clinicians face dilemma in differentiating colonization from true candiduria. The species identification of Candida is important, as non albicans Candida species are increasing in number and more resistant to antifungal drugs. Material and methods: The present study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital of North India with an aim of investigating prevalence of NAC spp. among Candida isolates from urinary tract specimens. Results: A total of 7627 urine samples were analysed in a tertiary care hospital. The Candida isolates (180) were further speciated by Gram stain, culture on sabouraud’s dextrose agar, germ tube test, sugar fermentation test. A total of 180 (2.36%) Candida species were isolated from 7627 urine samples. Among them non albicans Candida species were predominant (66.7%), compared to Candida albicans(33.3%).The rate of isolates of Candida species were more in females, 101 (56.1%) than in males 79 (43.9%). The highest isolation rates of Candida among uropathogens were found in age group above 60 years.The emergence of non-albicans Candida similar to the trends in the western countries should be a cause of concern in our country. Conclusions: NAC spp. have emerged as an important cause of urinary tract infections. Its isolation from clinical specimens can no longer be ignored as nonpathogenic isolate nor can it be dismissed as a contaminant. Proper surveillance of these fungal pathogens is important to improve quality of care in tertiary care setting.
ABSTRACT
Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC β-lactamases continue to be a major problem in healthcare settings. Due to the scarcity of information regarding the antibiotic susceptibility patterns particularly from urinary tract infections (UTIs) and wound infections, the current study was carried out to assist the clinicians to prescribe appropriate antibiotics against gram-negative clinical isolates. In the current study, urine (n = 620) and pus (n = 228) samples were collected from different sites (at various clinical departments) and subjected to direct microscopic examination, culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST). In the AST testings, the isolates that exhibited reduced zone of inhibition to one or more of the antibiotics such as cefotaxime (≤27 mm), ceftriaxone (≤25 mm), ceftazidime (≤22 mm), cefpodoxime (≤17 mm) and aztreonam (≤27 mm) were considered as potential ESBL producers and the ESBL production was confirmed using phenotypic screening test (doubledisk synergy test) and phenotypic confirmatory test (combined-disk test). However, isolates showing resistance or decreased sensitivity to cefoxitin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, cefpodoxime or aztreonam and sensitive to cefepime were considered as a screen positive AmpC producer and subjected to AmpC disk tests. The current study concluded that 72.41% and 21.76% of ESBL and AmpC producers were detected, respectively in our hospital. It was also observed that the double-disk synergy and combined-disk tests were equally effective for ESBL detection. Further, AmpC disk test is simple, easy to perform and interpret, requiring less expertise for the rapid detection of AmpC isolates.
ABSTRACT
The objective of the current study was to compare two rapid methods, the BBL Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT TM) and Biotec FASTPlaque TB TM (FPTB) assays, with the conventional Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) media assay to diagnose mycobacterial infections from paucibacillary clinical specimens. For evaluation of the clinical utility of the BBL MGIT TM and FPTB assays, respiratory tract specimens (n = 208), with scanty bacilli or clinically evident, smear negative cases and non-respiratory tract specimens (n = 119) were analyzed and the performance of each assay was compared with LJ media. MGIT and FPTB demonstrated a greater sensitivity (95.92 percent and 87.68 percent), specificity (94.59 percent and 98.78 percent), positive predictive value (94.91 percent and 99.16 percent) and negative predictive value (96.56 percent and 90.92 percent), respectively, compared to LJ culture for both respiratory tract and non-respiratory tract specimens. However, the FPTB assay was unable to detect nontuberculous mycobacteria and few Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex cases from paucibacillary clinical specimens. It is likely that the analytical sensitivity of FPTB is moderately low and may not be useful for the direct detection of tuberculosis in paucibacillary specimens. The current study concluded that MGIT was a dependable, highly efficient system for recovery of M. tuberculosis complexes and nontuberculous mycobacteria from both respiratory and non-respiratory tract specimens in combination with LJ media.