Actinomycotic lacrimal canaliculitis: a rare case report

Actinomyces israelii is a gram-positive anaerobic organism commonly associated with canaliculitis in adults. Actinomyces are normal commensal bacteria in humans and primarily cause opportunistic infections during immunosuppressive state or when loss of continuity of epithelial lining in mucosa occurs. Lacrimal canaliculitis is a relatively rare condition and is undiagnosed for long periods of time. Being a relatively rare condition, it is commonly overlooked and undiagnosed for long periods of time. Primary chronic canaliculitis is an uncommon problem and Actinomycosis may form in up to 2% of all lacrimal disease. Here present study reports a case of lacrimal canaliculitis caused by Actinomyces israelii.

Actinomycosis in histopathology – Review of literature

Actinomycosis is a chronic, suppurative granulomatous inflammation caused by Actinomyces israelli which is a gram positive organism that is a normal commensal in humans. Multiple clinical features of actinomycosis have been described, as various anatomical sites can be affected. It most commonly affects the head and neck (50%). In any site, actinomycosis frequently mimics malignancy, tuberculosis or nocardiosis. Physicians must be aware of clinical presentations but also that actinomycosis mimicking malignancy. In most cases, diagnosis is often possible after surgical exploration. Following the confirmation of diagnosis, antimicrobial therapy with high doses of Penicillin G or Amoxicillin is required. This article is intended to review the clinical presentations, histopathology and complications of actinomycosis in various sites of the body.

Role of Nocardia in Activated Sludge

Activated sludge process is a biological process that is widely used in the domestic and industrial wastewater treatment in over the world. The foam formation is often reported in wastewater treatment plants which are related to this process. Some operational problems can be created by foaming, such as effluent quality deteriorates, the creation of malodorous, increased time requirements in order to plant maintenance, and in extreme cases, hazardous working conditions resulting from foam spilling out of the aeration basin and as well as increased in operational costs. There are different ways to overcome this problem, such as reduce air flows into the aeration basin, reduction in the grease and oil content of the wastewater, surface and return activated sludge (RAS) chlorination, anoxic and anaerobic selectors, solid retention time (SRT) control and antifoams and organic polymer addition. On the other hand, rapid and accurate identification of the foam causes is in the first step to control bulking and foaming. Foam problem is often created by filamentous bacteria, such as Nocardia and Gordonia species. This bacterium has a role important in activated sludge.

Value of autogenous conjunctival flap transplantation in the treatment of severe fungal corneal ulcer / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To investigate effect of autogenous conjunctival flap transplantation in the treatment of severe fungal corneal ulcer. METHODS: A total of 83 cases ( 83 eyes ) with severe fungal corneal ulcer treated in our hospital from Jan. 2013 to Jan. 2016 were selected. Among them, 36 cases ( 36 eyes) were treated with drug therapy, and 47 patients(47 eyes ) were treated with autogenous conjunctival flap transplantation, two group did fungal culture and identification, observed the two groups treatment effect.RESULTS:The effective rate of surgical treatment group was 89%, significantly higher than that of drug treatment group, the difference was statistically significant ( P CONCLUSION: Autologous conjunctival flap transplantation in the treatment of severe fungal corneal ulcer has good curative effect. The operation is simple, worthy of recommendation method. Filamentous bacterial corneal ulcer without good drug therapy effect, surgical treatment should be performed in a timely manner to improve the curative effect.

Gut-residing Microbes Alter the Host Susceptibility to Autoantibody-mediated Arthritis

K/BxN serum can transfer arthritis to normal mice owing to the abundant autoantibodies it contains, which trigger innate inflammatory cascades in joints. Little is known about whether gut-residing microbes affect host susceptibility to autoantibody-mediated arthritis. To address this, we fed C57BL/6 mice with water containing a mixture of antibiotics (ampicillin, vancomycin, neomycin, and metronidazol) for 2 weeks and then injected them with K/BxN serum. Antibiotic treatment significantly reduced the amount of bacterial genomic DNA isolated from fecal samples, in particular a gene encoding 16S ribosomal RNA derived from segmented filamentous bacteria. Arthritic signs, as indicated by the arthritic index and ankle thickness, were significantly attenuated in antibiotic-treated mice compared with untreated controls. Peyer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes from antibiotic-treated mice contained fewer IL-17-expressing cells than those from untreated mice. Antibiotic treatment reduced serum C3 deposition in vitro via the alternative complement pathway. IL-17-/- congenic C57BL/6 mice were less susceptible to K/BxN serum-transferred arthritis than their wild-type littermates, but were still responsive to treatment with antibiotics. These results suggest that gut-residing microbes, including segmented filamentous bacteria, induce IL-17 production in GALT and complement activation via the alternative complement pathway, which cause the host to be more susceptible to autoantibody-mediated arthritis.

Sporotrichoid nocardiosis with cutaneous dissemination.

Dissemination of primary cutaneous nocardiosis is a rare event. A 37-year-old man working as farmer presented with multiple painful suppurative nodular and ulcerative skin lesions over left lower extremities, in a linear pattern, with duration of five months and single painful nodule over right elbow since last three months. We found the presence of beaded filamentous bacteria in Gram stain smear and partial acid fast stain, from the smear taken from pus. Patient responded well to cotrimoxazole therapy. Hence, we confirm our diagnosis of sporotrichoid pattern of cutaneous nocardiosis with dissemination to other cutaneous area.