Genotypic characterization of fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from edible offal

Abstract: Edible offal is easily contaminated by Escherichia coli (E. coli) and fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistant E. coli is considered a serious public health problem, thus, this study investigated the genetic characteristics of FQ-resistant E. coli from edible offal. A total of 22 FQ-resistant E. coli isolates were tested. A double mutation in each gyrA and parC led the highest MIC. Four (18.2%) isolates carried plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes. The fimH, eaeA, escV, astA, and iucC genes were confirmed. Seventeen isolates (77.3%) were positive for plasmid replicons. The isolates showed high genetic heterogeneity based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns.

A Korean Patient with Early Juvenile Form of Metachromatic Leukodystrophy: Biochemical and Molecular Genetic Investigation

Metachromatic leukodystrophy is an inherited lysosomal storage disorder caused by the deficiency of arylsulfatase A activity. The patient in this study, a 5-yr-old girl, presented with progressive psychomotor regression. An MRI image of her brain showed bilateral symmetrical demyelination. The arylsulfatase A activity in her leukocytes was decreased to 8.0 nmol/hr/mg protein (reference range, 25-80 nmol/hr/mg protein). Mutation analysis of ARSA, using PCR and direct sequencing, showed two heterozygote pathogenic variations of c.449C>T (p.Pro150Leu) and c.640G>A (p.Ala214Thr). In summary, we report a Korean patient with an early juvenile form of metachromatic leukodystrophy, who was diagnosed based on her clinical symptoms as well as by using biochemical, radiological, and molecular genetic investigations.

Performance Evaluation of Glucometer Barozen H Based on ISO 15197 Standards

BACKGROUND: We have evaluated the analytical performance of Barozen H (i-SENS Inc. Seoul, Korea), which was developed for glucose testing and can be connected to hospital information network systems. METHODS: We evaluated the precision of ten glucometers based on repeatability and intermediate precision according to the guidelines of the International Standardization Organization (ISO) 15197:2011. The linearity of patient samples was in the range of 30.7-551.2 mg/dL. The accuracy of the results of Barozen H and the correlation of these results and those of the two other glucometers in comparisons with the Modular D reference device (Roche Diagnostics Ltd., Switzerland) were evaluated using 150 capillary blood and venous whole blood samples. RESULTS: The ranges for the repeatability and intermediate precision of ten Barozen H glucometers were 1.58-4.61% and 2.85-5.48%, respectively. The linearity was expressed by y=0.9681x+2.0791, and the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.9996. When venous whole blood samples were used, the correlation coefficient (r) was 0.9914. When glucose levels were under 100 mg/dL, 95.2% of Barozen H results were within +/-15 mg/dL, and when glucose levels were 100 mg/dL or higher, 97.2% were within +/-15%. When capillary blood samples were used, 41.4% (under 100 mg/dL) and 55.4% (100 mg/dL or higher) of Barozen H results were within +/-15 mg/dL and +/-15%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Barozen H provided reliable results and satisfied the ISO15197:2011 criteria when venous whole blood samples were used. It is thought to be clinically useful as a hospital point-of-care glucometer.