Probiotics-A complete oral healthcare package / 中西医结合学报

Probiotics are living bacterial cells that have significant therapeutic potential for treating human infectious diseases. There is a huge market for probiotics in the pharmaceutical sector. They have been frequently used to treat the gastrointestinal diseases and improve gut immunity. In this review, the strains currently in use for manufacturing oral probiotic formulations are discussed. The review further recommends the use of probiotics for the control of various oral health disorders, like dental caries, periodontitis, gingivitis, halitosis, burning mouth syndrome, and oral cancer. Finally, this review also explores the use of various commercial probiotic products in maintaining oral health, their market values, and government acts and regulations that are relevant to the production and marketing of probiotics. Probiotics have tremendous therapeutic potential and more in-depth research must be done on these beneficial bacteria to make them one of the leading drugs in treating oral disorders.

Corrigendum to “Statistical Evaluation of Two Microbiological Diagnostic Methods of Pulmonary Tuberculosis After Implementation of a Directly Observed Treatment Short-course Program” Osong Public Health Res Perspect 2013;4(1):45–51

In the above-mentioned article, the authors want to update the source of Figure 1 both in Figure legend and in the Reference section, which was missing the original article.

Antibacterial efficacy of five medicinal plants against multidrug-resistant enteropathogenic bacteria infecting under-5 hospitalized children / 中西医结合学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate in vitro antibacterial effectiveness of five medicinal plants used by an Indian aborigine, against 8 multidrug-resistant (MDR) enteropathogenic bacteria isolated from clinical samples of under-5 hospitalized children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Antibiotic sensitivity patterns of eight clinically isolated strains of enteropathogenic bacteria, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella paratyphi, S. typhi, Shigella dysenteriae, S. sonnei and Vibrio cholerae were assessed by disc-diffusion method. Antibacterial activities of 8 solvent-extracts of leaves and bark of five medicinal plants were monitored by the agar-well diffusion method. The microbroth dilution method was used to assess minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Qualitative phytochemical analyses of active plant extracts were carried out.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Ethanol, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Holarrhena antidysenterica leaf tissue were most effective against 8 MDR pathogens in vitro. Similarly, acetone, ethanol and methanol extracts of Terminalia alata leaf tissue; chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Terminalia arjuna leaf tissue and ethyl acetate, ethanol and methanol extracts of Paederia foetida leaf tissue were most effective in inhibiting in vitro growth of the 8 MDR enteropathogens. Ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of H. antidysenterica bark tissue; acetone, ethanol and methanol extracts of T. alata bark tissue and acetone, ethanol and methanol extracts of T. arjuna bark tissue were most effective in controlling enteropathogen growth. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration values of the 3 most antimicrobial leaf and bark extracts from the five plants were in the range of 1.56 to 50 mg/mL.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>These 5 plants exhibited in vitro control over a cohort of 8 enteropathogenic bacterial strains isolated from clinical samples.</p>

Prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance in Escherichia coli in an Indian teaching hospital and adjoining communities

Multidrug resistant [MDR] strains of the Gram-negative pathogenic bacterium, Escherichia coli, particularly fluoroquinolone-resistant strains, are the major causative agents for hospital acquired [HA] infections, as well as epidemics linked to gastrointestinal [GI] and urinary tracts in the non-hygienic communities of most developing countries. The prevalence of multidrug resistance among 1642 strains of E. coli, isolated from clinical samples of patients with GI infections in a hospital over 39 months [November 2009-January 2013] is recorded, along with sensitivity patterns to 23 currently used antibiotics, including third-generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones with disc-diffusion method. A total of 1642 strains of E. coli were isolated from the clinical samples, of which 810 isolates were from CA samples and 832 isolates were from hospitalized patients during the study period. Of the 810 CA isolates, 567 strains were resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics; of the 832 HA isolates, 575 strains were fluoroquinolone-resistant, independently. Minimum inhibitory concentration values of fluoroquinolones [ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin] against the isolated E. coli strains confirmed the resistance in the current/coveted treatment options. Patients with other bacterial infections had relatively higher chances of becoming infected with fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli strains. The data presented epitomize the daunting state of the infection-dynamics of fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli in hospitals and adjoining communities

Prevalence of two multidrug-resistant Klebsiella species in an Indian teaching hospital and adjoining community

The Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria Klebsiella oxytoca and Klebsiella pneumoniae produce the extended spectrum beta -lactamase [ESBL] and cephalosporinase enzymes and are the major causes of hospital acquired [HA] infections and epidemics in non-hygienic communities in the majority of developing countries. The prevalence of multidrug resistance among 445 strains of K. oxytoca and K. pneumoniae isolated from clinical samples of patients with gastrointestinal infections over a period of 42 months in the hospital was recorded, along with the sensitivity patterns to 23 antibiotics, including third-generation cephalosporin and fluoroquinolone antibiotics, using the disk-diffusion method. Of 175 K. oxytoca isolates, 143 were ESBL positive and 117 were fluoroquinolone resistant. Of 270 K. pneumoniaeisolates, 200 were ESBL positive and 195 were independently fluoroquinolone resistant. The HA samples yielded more isolates than the community acquired [CA] samples for each species. The K. oxytoca strains were resistant to cefepime, gatifloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, levofloxacin and imipenem, whereas the K. pneumoniae strains were highly resistant to ampicillin, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, gatifloxacin, ofloxacin, amoxyclav, ceftazidime, cefepime, cefixime, piperacillin and imipenem. The ESBL-producing and fluoroquinolone-resistant K. pneumoniae strains were more prevalent than the K. oxytoca strains in the HA/CA samples. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of the third-generation cephalosporins: cefotaxime and ceftazidime and the fluoroquinolones: ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin against both species of Klebsiella confirmed the resistance in the current/coveted treatment options. Patients with other bacterial infections had a relatively higher probability of infection with ESBL-producing and fluoroquinolone-resistant Klebsiella strains. The data presented here highlight the alarming state of Klebsiellainfection dynamics in the hospital and adjoining communities

A report on infection dynamics of inducible clindamycin resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from a teaching hospital in India

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the infection of hospital- and community-acquired "erythromycin-induced clindamycin resistant" strains or D-test positives of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (with and without methicillin resistance) in a hospital.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Strains of S. aureus isolated from clinical specimens were subjected to D-test and antibiotic profiling.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the total 278 isolates, 140 (50.35%) were D-test positives and the rest were D-test negatives. Further, of 140 (100%) positives, 87 (62.14%) and 53 (37.85%) strains were from males and females, respectively. Of 140 (100%) positives, 117 (83.57%) were methicillin resistant S. aureus and 23 (16.42%) were methicillin sensitive S. aureus; of 140 strains, 103 (73.57%) strains from persons with and 37 (26.42%) were without related infections; of 140 strains, 91 (65%) and 49 (35%) were from hospital- and community-acquired samples, respectively. In 140 strains, 118 (84.28%) with comorbidities and 22 (15.71%) without comorbidities cases were recorded; similarly, persons with prior antibiotic uses contributed 108 (77.14%) and without 32 (22.85%) positive strains. These binary data of surveillance were analyzed by a univariate analysis. It was evident that the prior antibiotic uses and comorbidities due to other ailments were the determinative factors in D-test positivity, corroborated by low P values, P=0.001 1 and 0.002 4, respectively. All isolates (278) were resistant to 17 antibiotics of nine groups, in varying degrees; the minimum of 28% resistance for vancomycin and the maximum of 97% resistance for gentamicin were recorded. Further, of 278 strains, only 42 (15.1%) strains were resistant constitutively to both antibiotics, erythromycin resistant and clindamycin resistant, while 45 (16.2%) strains were constitutively sensitive to both antibiotics (erythromycin sensitive and clindamycin sensitive). Further, of the rest 191 (68.7%) strains were with erythromycin resistant and clindamycin resistant, of which only 140 (50.35%) strains were D-test positives, while the rest 51 (18.34%) strains were D-test negatives.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In view of high prevalence of D-test positive S. aureus strains, and equally high prevalence of multidrug resistant strains both in community and hospital sectors, undertaking of D-test may be routinely conducted for suppurative infections.</p>