[The possibilities for using combined methods in typing Candida albicans for establishing epidemiological relationships]. / Vozmozhnosti primeneniia kombinirovannykh metodov tipirovaniia Candida albicans dlia ustanovleniia épidemiologicheskikh sviazei.

An outbreak of candidiasis caused by C. albicans was registered in a neonatal intensive care unit of one of the hospital of St.-Petersburg at the period of August 12-October 8, 1992. C. albicans were isolated from 21 out of 87 patients. To achieve their more detailed deciphering and to establish epidemiological relationships, the intraspecific typing of C. albicans was carried out by DNA typing and by the electrophoretic spectrum of exoproduct proteins. The analysis of the results of this typing revealed that strains classified with the same biotype belonged to different electrophoretic groups and, vice versa, strains of the same electrophoretic group could belong to different biotypes. The analysis of the data obtained by taking into account the results of typing by the two methods, the time of the patients stay in the unit, the number of the maternity clinic from which an individual patient arrived, the number of the reanimation place and the number of the apparatus for artificial lung ventilation made it possible to establish epidemiological relationships between the patients in all cases.

[An outbreak of nosocomial candidiasis in a hematology ward]. / Vspyshka vnutribol'nichnogo kandidoza v gematologicheskom otdelenii.

The aim of the present investigation was the study of the epidemic process of hospital candidiasis. The study was carried out from October 1991 to May 1992 in a hematological ward of one of the hospitals of St.-Petersburg on 9 patients with generalized forms of candidiasis: in 4 of them the disease was caused by C. albicans and 5--by C. parapsilosis. Intestinal dysfunction as one of the first manifestations of candidosepsis caused by C. albicans, the isolation of C. albicans from feces, ulcero-necrotic colitis (established by postmortem examination), as well as the incapacity of these patients of immune response (in 2 serologically examined patients the titer of antibodies to fungi of the genus Candida was found to be lower than the diagnostic titer), were indicative of the dissemination of fungi from the gastrointestinal tract. The cases of fungemia caused by C. parapsilosis were due to the fungal contamination of vascular catheters in these patients. This infective agent was also isolated from washings obtained from the hands of nurses carrying out treatment and from medical rubber gloves. Moreover, some violations in the rules of the preparation of disinfecting solutions and the treatment of the hands of the personnel were established.

[The use of a method for the electrophoretic typing by protein profiles of bacteria in the genus Acinetobacter for epidemiological diagnosis]. / Ispol'zovanie metoda élektroforeticheskogo tipirovaniia po belkovym profiliam bakterii roda Acinetobacter dlia épidemiologicheskoi diagnostiki.

On the basis of data obtained by the biological characterization and electrophoretic typing of Acinetobacter sp. cultures by the spectra of membrane proteins epidemiological relationships, routes of transmission and specific features of the circulation of strains causing purulent inflammatory diseases have been determined.

[Study of beta-lactamase activity of staphylococci from different sources]. / Izuchenie beta-laktamaznoi aktivnosti stafilokokkov razlichnogo Proiskhozhdeniia.

The beta-lactamase activity of staphylococci isolated from the nasopharynx and skin of children with destructive affections of the lungs and from blood of patients with cardiovascular diseases subjected to surgical operations was determined with acidometric and microbiological procedures. Interrelation between synthesis of beta-lactamase by the staphylococcal strains and their resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics was demonstrated. No correlation of the antibiotic resistance and the taxonomic position of the staphylococcal strains was observed.

[Preparation of an erythrocytic diagnostic agent based on staphylococcal proteinase]. / Poluchenie éritrotsitarnogo diagnostikuma na osnove stafilokokkovoi proteinazy.

Various methods for sheep red cell sensitization for the preparation of erythrocytic diagnostic agent from staphylococcal proteinase were under study. Sensitization with chromium chloride yielded the best results as regarded the sensitivity of the agent, optimal sensitizing dose, and sensitin consumption. The resultant erythrocytic diagnostic agent retained about 10% of the initial enzymic solution activity. The authors have demonstrated a high specificity of the erythrocytic diagnostic agent from staphylococcal proteinase, that may be used for the serologic diagnosis of staphylococcal infection and for proteinase indication in various staphylococcal preparations.

[A method of electrophoretic differentiation of the genera of glucose-nonfermenting gram-negative bacteria]. / Metod élektroforeticheskoi differentsiatsii rodov nefermentiruiushchikh gliukozu gramotritsatel'nykh bakterii.

Glucose nonfermenting gram-negative bacteria were electrophoretically typed for the extracellular protein spectra. The method permits differentiation on the generic level the cultures of such bacteria, characterized by atypical biochemistry, within 10 hours.

[Coagulase-negative staphylococci in pyoseptic pathology and methods for their identification]. / Koagulazootritsatel'nye stafilokokki v gnoinosepticheskoi patologii i metody ikh identifikatsii.

Analysis of clinical material from cardiosurgical and cardiotherapeutic patients and that from neonates with pyoseptic infections, hospitalized in Moscow and Gorky, has demonstrated the etiologic significance of coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CNS). Since many strains did not belong to S. aureus, S. epidermidis, or S. saprophyticus, they were species-identified in accordance with the classification by W. Kloos and K. Schleifer (1975). A variety of CNS species was observed, and their role in the development of pyoseptic infections shown, the contribution of S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus being the greatest here. Besides S. aureus, S. xylosus was often isolated from purulent foci. A certain specificity in CNS spectrum, related to the hospital profile, was revealed. A brief modified scheme of CNS classification was developed, based on analysis of about 700 strains, in accordance with the classification of W. Kloos and K. Schleifer, that included the tests available for practical laboratories.

[Effect of dioxidine on extracellular proteins and enzymes in Staphylococcus aureus]. / Deistvie dioksidina na vnekletochnye belki i fermenty Staphylococcus aureus.

Dioxidine++-induced changes were shown to occur in the protein composition of the cells of Staphylococcus aureus. The most significant damages were observed in the composition of exoproteins. Dioxidine++ had a specific inhibitory effect on intracellular nuclease, which was accompanied by a decrease in virulence and disorders in the toxin formation.

[Investigation of food poisoning of staphylococcal etiology using a comparison of the extracellular proteins of the isolated causative agents]. / Rassledovanie pishchevykh toksikoinfektsii stafilokokkovoi étiologii s ispol'zovaniem sopostavleniia spektrov vnekletochnykh belkov vydelennykh vozbuditelei.

Materials on the study of four outbreaks of alimentary toxinfections of staphylococcal etiology, carried out by the method of the identification of staphylococci by the spectra of their extracellular proteins, are presented. As the result of this study, the sources and transfer routes of infections have been established. The method of the identification of staphylococci by the exoprotein spectra has made it possible to find out the epidemiological chain with greater accuracy. Such identification may serve as an auxiliary method in epidemiological surveillance.

[The spectrum of extracellular proteins of staphylococci--the passport of a strain]. / Spektr vnekletochnykh belkov stafilokokkov--pasport shtamma.

The possibility of detecting identical strains was analyzed by comparing extracellular protein spectra of Staphylococcus aureus strains from the collection of the L. A. Tarasevich Institute for Standardization and Control of Medical Preparations. Analysis of the findings confirms that S. aureus and other Staphylococci should be characterized by their protein spectra and this marker should be present in the certificate of the strain in collections. Protein spectrum determination is obligatory for production strains.

[Electrophoretic analysis of the exoproducts of bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas]. / Elektroforeticheski analiz ékzoproduktov bakterii roda Pseudomonas.

A high degree of similarity (exceeding 90%) between the electrophoregrams of the exoproducts of 31 Pseudomonas strains, including the standard species P. aeruginosa, P. maltophilia, P. putida, P. alcaligenes, P. testosteroni, P. diminuta, P. stutseri, P. fluorescens, has been shown by the method of electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel.

[Staphylococcal DNA as a basis for classification]. / DNK stafilokokkov kak osnova ikh klassifikatsii.

The genome characterization of the typing strains for all 13 species of the genus Staphylococcus, included into the Approval List of the Names of Bacterial (1980), is presented. The nucleotide composition of DNA (28-33% of GC) did not permit the differentiation between staphylococcal species, but some of the groups of these species could be differentiated by the size of their genome (0.6-1.6 X 10(9) daltons). Differences in the degree of similarity between the nucleotide sequences of the DNA of all species (5-6% of DNA homology) made it possible to suggest raising the genus Staphylococcus to the rank of the family Staphylococcaceae fam. nov. The hypothetical classification scheme of this family is presented for discussion.

[Outer membrane proteins in the characterization of salmonellae of various origins]. / Belki naruzhnoi membrany v kharakteristike sal'monell razlichnogo proiskhozhdeniia.

Outer membrane proteins have been studied in 76 Salmonella strains isolated from various sources and differing in their sensitivity to antibiotics, the presence of R-plasmids and a number of enzymatic properties. The outer membranes have been isolated by the modified method of L. W. Coulton and D. T. F. Wan. The study of the isolated proteins has been carried out by means of gel and disc electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel with sodium dodecyl sulfate according to K. Weber and M. Osborn. The composition of the proteinograms thus obtained has revealed the presence of essential differences between hospital strains and cultures isolated from animals and from the environment in sporadic infections, as well as between strains belonging to different serovars. The possibility of using the characterization of outer membrane proteins of salmonellae in epidemiological investigations is discussed.

[Automatic analysis of the spectra of extracellular proteins based on their autocorrelation characteristics]. / Avtomaticheskii analiz spektrov vnekletochnykh belkov na baze ikh avtokorreliatsionnykh kharakteristik.

Hardware and software for the automatic comparison of densitograms, based on the evaluation of their autocorrelation characteristics, can be used for establishing the characteristics of circulating staphylococcal populations and for their epidemiological marking.