ABSTRACT
Identification of Candida cultured from various clinical specimens to the species level is increasingly necessary for clinical laboratories. Although sn PCR identifies the species within hours but its cost-effectiveness is to be considered. So there is always a need for media which help in the isolation and identification at the species level. The study aimed to evaluate the performance of different chromogenic media and to compare the effectiveness of the traditional phenotypic methods versus seminested polymer-ase chain reaction [sn PCR] for identification of Candida species. One hundred and twenty seven Candida strains isolated from various clinical specimens were identified by conventional methods, four different chromogenic media and sn PCR . HiCrome Candida Differential and CHROMagar Candida media showed comparably high sensitivities and specificities in the identification of C. albicans , C. tropicalis, C. glabrata and C. krusei. CHROMagar Candida had an extra advantage of identifying all C. parapsilosis isolates. CHROMagar-Pal's medium identified C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. krusei with high sensitivities and specificities, but couldn't identify C. glabrata or C. parapsilosis. It was the only medium that identified C. dubliniensis with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. Biggy agar showed the least sensitivities and specificities. The overall concordance of the snPCR compared to the conventional tests including CHROMAgar Candida in the identification of Candida species was 97.5 %. The use of CHROMAgar Candida medium is an easy and accurate method for presumptive identification of the most commonly encountered Candida spp. Key words: chromogenic media, sn PCR, Candida?
ABSTRACT
Background H. pylori infection causes diverse clinical outcomes, including dyspepsia, peptic ulceration, gastric carcinoma and mucosa associated lymphoid tissue [MALT] lymphoma. Up-remulation of COX-2 has been observed in H. pylori gastritis in response to inflammatory cytokines. IL-8 is a major activator for neutrophils which contribute to mucosal damage in H. pylori infected patients. A wide-spread use of non-invasive simple diagnostic method is indicated for diagnosis and follow-up of H. pylori infection
Aims: Assessment of COX-2 and IL-8 immuno-express.ion in gastric mucosa in correlations to H. pylori infection in patients suffering from dyspepsia and evaluation of different available diagnostic modalities for detection of H. pylori infection in Sohag city, Egypt
Methods: The study included 62 patients complaining of dyspepsia. Stool samples were examined for detection of H. pylori stool antigen [HpSA] using enzyme immunoassay [ElA]. Antral endoscopical biopsies were taken for culture, and histopathological evaluation using Giemsa stain. Immunohistochemical expressions of IL-8 and COX-2 in tissue sections were evaluated
Results: H. pylori infection was detected in 42/62 [67.7%] of patients with dyspepsia by using the gold standard method [culture and Giemsa stain]. The diagnostic accuracy of HpSA was 83.8% which made it a good non-invasive alternative for detection ofH. pylori infection in our community. COX-2 was expressed in 90.5% ofH. pylori positive and in 55% of H. pylori negative cases [P < 0.003]. IL-8 was expressed in 83.3% ofH. pylori positive and in 50% ofH. pylori negative cases [P < 0.003]
Conclusions: Wherever endoscopy is not indicated, HpSA EIA is a non invasive, rapid, easily performed, reliable method for diagnosis ofH. pylori infection. H. pylori infection causes enhancement of COX-2 and IL-8, and this may have a role in the progression of gastritis to more advanced lesions?