High-Level Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Campylobacter jejuni Isolates Circulating in Humans and Animals in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the major causative pathogens of outbreaks or sporadic cases of diarrhoeal diseases worldwide. In this study, we compared the phenotypic and genetic characteristics of C. jejuni isolates of human and food-producing animal origins in Korea and examined the genetic relatedness between these two groups of isolates. Regardless of isolation source, all C. jejuni isolates harboured four virulence genes, cadF, cdtB, ciaB and racR, whereas the wlaN and virB11 genes were more frequently observed in human isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that the majority of C. jejuni isolates displayed high-level resistance to fluoroquinolone (95.2%) or tetracycline (76.2%) antibiotics, and 12.4% of isolates exhibited multidrug resistance (more than three classes of antibiotics tested). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of all Campylobacter isolates revealed 51 different SmaI-PFGE patterns and six major clusters containing both human and animal isolates. These results indicate that genetically diverse strains of C. jejuni with antimicrobial drug-resistance and virulence properties have prevailed in Incheon. Nevertheless, some particular populations continue to circulate within the community, providing the evidence for an epidemiological link of C. jejuni infections between humans and food-producing animals. Therefore, the continued monitoring and surveillance of C. jejuni isolates of human and food-producing animal origins are required for public health and food safety.

Dietary supplementation of (+)-catechin protects against UVB-induced skin damage by modulating antioxidant enzyme activities.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with (+)-catechin on cutaneous antioxidant enzymes and the skin damage caused by UVB irradiation. METHODS: BALB/c mice were divided into three groups. Each group was fed a regular diet (RD) or a 2% catechin-supplemented diet for either 2 weeks (2CSD) or 4 weeks (4CSD) ad libitum prior to UVB irradiation. Skin was removed for the antioxidant enzyme assay, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and the TEM analysis before and at various time points after UVB (200 mJ/cm2) irradiation. RESULTS: Before UVB irradiation, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities of the 2CSD and the 4CSD groups were found to be lower than those of the RD group, whereas the glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity of the 4CSD group was higher than those of the RD and the 2CSD groups (P<0.05). The SOD and CAT activities of the RD group decreased after UVB irradiation, while those of the 2CSD and the 4CSD groups increased immediately after irradiation and then decreased (P<0.05). Immediately after UVB irradiation, the GPx activities of the 4CSD and the 2CSD groups increased, but that of the RD group decreased. The GPx activity of all three groups showed a tendency to return to pre-UVB irradiation levels with time. Light microscopic findings of the RD group showed epidermal thinning and apoptotic cells at 24 h after UVB irradiation and mostly necrotic cells at 48 h, whereas only moderate thickening of the epidermis was observed in the 2CSD group at 48 h after irradiation. An electron microscopic examination produced similar findings. At 48 h after irradiation, nearly all epidermal cells seemed to be damaged in the RD group as compared to the 2CSD group. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that dietary supplementation with (+)-catechin could protect epidermal cells against UVB-induced damage by modulating antioxidant enzyme activities.