Evaluation of Pathogenic Potentialities and Transmissibility of Aerobic and Anaerobic Bacteria in Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

Aims: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) caused by various aerobic and anaerobic bacteria have been reported from many developed and developing countries of the world. However, there is limited data available on the association of these pathogens with STDs on the Indian sub-continent. Therefore, the aim of this is to the presence of anaerobic and aerobic bacteria in sexually transmitted infections. Study Design: Patients attending the Department of Dermatology, Venereology & Leprology, Calcutta Medical College & Hospital, suspected to be suffering from STDs, were thoroughly examined and those having typical lesions of chancroid were excluded Original Research Article British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research, 4(27): 4533-4541, 2014 4534 from further work. The prevalence of different aerobic and anaerobic bacteria was determined from among the remaining patients after ruling out cases of chancres. Place and Duration of Study: This work was carried out in the Department of Oral Medicine, R. Ahmed Dental College; Department of Dermatalogy, Venereology & Leprology, Calcutta Medical College and Hospital; Division of Microbiology, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University and Department of Microbiology, Herbicure Healthcare Bio-Herbal Research Foundation, Kolkata, for a period of seven months from April 1 to October 31, 2012. Methodology: At least two smears were prepared from the infected ulcers of each of the patients who were not diagnosed as of chancroid. One smear was for dark ground microscopy and the other for Gram’s staining. Confirmation of chancre was by serological testing, while aerobes/anaerobes were identified following standard procedures. Results: The organisms isolated were Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Gardenerella vaginalis, Actinomyces spp, Veillonella purvula, Peptococcus heliotrinreducens, Peptostreptococcus magnus and Peptostreptococcus hydrogenalis. These were subjected to tests for their antibiotic sensitivity pattern which was followed by successful specific therapy. Conclusion: Various Gram positive and Gram negative aerobes and anaerobes were found to be associated with STDs and these were transmissible among homosexual and heterosexual partners.

Castlemans disease in HIV infected patient from eastern India.

Castlemans disease is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder. We report a patient of Castlemans disease with advanced HIV infection who responded well to conventional HAART. This case is interesting because of the rarity of the disease in the eastern part of India and its good out come with antiretroviral therapy.

Designing of peptides with immuno-modulatory properties using protein A as a probe.

A series of reports from our laboratory have described the multifarious properties of protein A of Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I, apart from its IgG binding affinity. Original reports regarding its anti-tumor, anti-toxic, anti-carcinogenic and immunomodulatory properties published earlier by the authors have implicated some uniqueness of this bacterial protein. It was conceived that such diversified properties must lie in its specific peptide sequences, rendering it to act and behave as a multipotent "Biological Response Modifier" (BRM). The high resolution X-ray structure of protein A-Fc complex has been delineated earlier, and has been the foundation of many protein engineering studies. This structure along with the amino acid sequence data of its four repetitive domains provided us the basis for designing an octapeptide. This octapeptide was synthesized by solid phase peptide synthesis considering it as the probable site through which PA binds IgG. This octapeptide (NH2-Gln-Asn-Ala-Phe-Tyr-Glu-Ile-Leu-COOH) is present in the first helical segment of B-domain of protein A, and also is a part of domain D, A and C. This octapeptide has been shown to bind IgG by the immunoblotting technique. The binding affinity of the octapeptide appears to be significantly higher than that of intact protein A, as was revealed by calculation of Ka (association constant) and Kd (dissociation constant) values. This octapeptide might serve as a good immunoadsorbant for IgG and/or immune complexes.