ABSTRACT
THE SITUATION: Buruli's ulcer is a severe necrotic cutaneous infection due to Mycobacterium ulcerans. It is a major public health problem in developing countries. FROM A CLINICAL POINT OF VIEW: The early stage of the infection corresponds to a painless cutaneous nodule, whereas the late stage corresponds to ulceration with detachment of the edges. There is currently no other treatment than surgical excision combined with heat therapy. FROM A DIAGNOSTIC POINT OF VIEW: Three methods can be used: direct examination of swabs stained according to Ziehl-Neelsen's method, culture in specific medium at 32 degrees C and the polymerization chain reaction assay (PCR). The latter is the technique of choice.
Subject(s)
Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous/diagnosis , Mycobacterium ulcerans/isolation & purification , Skin Ulcer/microbiology , Culture Media , DNA, Bacterial/analysis , French Guiana , Humans , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Staining and Labeling/methodsABSTRACT
The authors examined the conditions under which the bactericidal action of the disinfectant cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) is neutralized by a dispersion of "essential" phospholipids (EPL). Both gram-positive and gram-negative strains of bacteria were exposed to various concentrations of the quarternary ammonium over different periods of time. Three cultures were prepared for each contact model to check on the effect of either pre-treatment and after-treatment with phospholipids or of CPC-exposure without the addition of phospholipids. The results obtained demonstrate that EPL are able to "receive" gram-negative bacteria like E. coli, P. aerug. and Morax. glucidol. after exposure to lethal concentrations of CPC for 30 min. While the "phenomenon of restoration" depended on the dose of phospholipids applied, the time of expsure to phospholipids proved irrelevant. The stabilisation of bacterial membranes due to EPL is discussed as a possible explanation of the phenomenon of restoration.
