ABSTRACT
Candida species are the most common cause of fungal infections in hospitalized patients. Clinical Candida isolates were collected from Zagazig and Benha University Hospitals. The isolates were subjected for rapid identification arid differentiation of the clinically important Candida species on Oxoid Chromogenic Candida Agar [OCCA] medium. On the basis of colony pigmentation on OCCA, 131 yeast isolates were correctly identified. The results revealed a relative reduction in rates of infection caused by Candida albicans and a shift toward non-albicans Candida species. Candida krusei and Candida glabrata were the most common isolates [46 isolates of each species, 35.1%] followed by Candida albicans, 32 isolate [24.4%] and Candida tropicalis 7[5.3%]. The susceptibility of the clinical isolates to the different antifungal agents was performed on Mueller-Hinton agar by disk diffusion method. The results showed that, 25[19.1%], 47[35.9%], 49[37.4%] and 32[24.4%] of the isolates were resistant to amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, and terbinafine; respectively. The resistance of clinical isolates was furtherly confirmed by determination of their MlCs by agar dilution method. Candida isolates of each species were genotyped by Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA [RAPD] assay. In which the genetic relatedness of the isolates were evaluated by Polymerase Chain Reaction [PCR]. Genetic fingerprinting patterns [Fig 2] were determined and summarized in Tables [2-8]. The data presented in these tables revealed that, there is no significant genetic relatedness among the isolates of each Candida species. In conclusion: The present study identified the more spread of non-albicans Candida species of Zagazig and Benha University Hospitals than the Candida albicans species, but identified no one of these isolates having nosocomial characteristics
ABSTRACT
Rotavirus gastroenteritis is a leading cause of diarrheal disease mortality among children under five years, mostly in developing world. This study aimed to detect rotavirus among 40 hospitalized infants and children with acute gastroenteritis whose ages ranged from 2-24 months, 22 males and 18 females. Also, a control group of 15 healthy infants and children with a matched age and sex were included in the study. Three different commercial tests for detection of group A rotavirus [Latex agglutination [LA], enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] and reverse-transcriptase PCR [RT-PCR]] were used to evaluate fecal specimens obtained from the patients and control group. LA test detected the virus in 24 cases [60%], while the result was 19 cases [47.5%] with ELISA and only 17 cases [42.5%] with RT-PCR. Genotyping showed presence of VP4 gene [P genotype] in 8 cases, VP7 [G genotype] in 6 cases, and a mixed VP4 and VP7 [P and G genotypes] in 3 cases of PCR positive diarrheal samples. The severe clinical manifestations were associated with VP7 genotype. Infection was more in artificial fed infants than breast fed with a significant difference [P <0.05]. Also, infection was more frequent in winter season. Considering PCR as a gold standard, our study reported that ELISA and LA test had a sensitivity of 94.1% and 82.4% respectively and a specificity of 92.1% and 73.7% respectively. In conclusion, ELISA is rapid, sensitive and specific test for detection of rotavirus in stool samples, while RT-PCR is an important method for viral genotyping
ABSTRACT
Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection may suffer from some autoimmune disorders. The pathogenesis of autoimmunity in those patients remains unclear but may reflect the host's genetic predispositions. Human leukocyte antigen [HLA] may play a predominant role in this aspect. The aims of this study were to assess the production of autoantibodies in chronic HCV patients and to investigate for the presence of a possible link between the HLA-DRB1 alleles and production of autoantibodies in chronic HCV patients
Methods: This study included 60 HCV infected patients who were previously diagnosed as having chronic HCV infection. These patients were investigated for the presence of autoantibodies [ANA by ELISA, ASMA by indirect immunofluorescent technique, anti-ds-DNA by latex agglutination method, and LKM-1 by ELISA]. Also, they were investigated for HLA-DRB1 by PCR technique and reverse dot-blot hybridization. The studied individuals were divided according to the presence or absence of autoantibodies into two main groups: group I [HCV infected patients with autoimmunity], group II [Pathological control group, HCV infected patients without autoimmunity]. The results of this study showed that the most prevalent HLA-DRB1 broad types in group I were HLA-DRB1 *03, *04 and *16. Moreover, these three types were significantly higher in group I compared to group II [P < 0.05]. The most prevalent HLA-DRB1 broad types in group II were HLA-DRB1 *7 and *8 and the prevalence of each was higher in group II compared to group I and the difference was highly significant [P < 0.01]. The frequencies of the alleles 030101, 030501, 040702, 160101 and 160102 were significantly higher in group I than group II, while the alleles 0812 and 110103 were significantly lower in group I than in group II. In conclusion, the results of this study suggested that some HLA-DRB1 broad types and alleles may predispose to or protect from HCV-induced autoimmunity in Egyptian patients who suffer from chronic HCV infection. These findings may allow better selection of management strategies for these patients after detection of HLA-DRB1 types which may be helpful to predict those who are susceptible to HCV-induced autoimmunity