Brief communication: body composition and hidden obesity in people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy.

BACKGROUND: Increased incidence of lifestyle diseases as side-effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) have been reported in people living with HIV (PLWH). Few studies have evaluated obesity and hidden obesity in Japanese PLWH and their association with ART. In order to provide more appropriate drug selection and lifestyle guidance, we investigated the relationship between the effects of HIV infection and ART on the body composition of Japanese PLWH. METHODS: PLWH who visited the outpatient clinic and had body composition measured using the body composition analyzer InBody 570 were included in this study. Medications, comorbidities, and blood test data were obtained. Body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) were measured. RESULTS: In this study, 543 patients were included. Based on body shape, patients were classified into a thin group (13), normal weight group (14), hidden obesity group (158), apparent obesity group (14), and obesity group (218). Compared with the normal weight group, the hidden obesity group had a higher prevalence of comorbidities and a lower SMI. CONCLUSIONS: PLWH are more likely to have obesity than the general population, indicating that hidden obesity is common even among those with a normal BMI. It is important to measure body fat percentage along with body weight, as hidden obesity can be missed. Further investigation of the effects of ART on body composition is needed.

Regional spread and control of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis in Kyoto, Japan.

The purpose of this investigation was to control the post-outbreak prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in the affected Kyoto region. The study period was from 2005 to 2010. Faecal samples were subjected to VRE screening, and vancomycin resistance genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The genotype was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of genomic DNA digested with SmaI and by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). A VRE control programme was established in 2006, consisting of a laboratory-based faecal VRE screening system, annual surveillance of hospital inpatients and the promotion of adequate infection control measures. vanA-Enterococcus faecium, vanB-E. faecium and vanB-E. faecalis were detected at 35, 12 and 5 hospitals, respectively. Genotype analysis revealed that all of the vancomycin-resistant E. faecium isolates obtained since 2005 belonged to ST78, and that clonally related vanB-E. faecalis of ST64 had spread to three hospitals. The rate of faecal VRE carriage among the patients enrolled in the annual surveillance increased until 2007, when it reached 24 (1.2%) of the 2,035 enrolled patients. The rate began to decrease in 2008 and, by 2010, reached a low of 4 (0.17%) of the 2,408 enrolled patients. While VRE did spread within the Kyoto region, the VRE control programme succeeded in controlling the overall VRE spread.

Regional spread of vanA- or vanB-positive Enterococcus gallinarum in hospitals and long-term care facilities in Kyoto prefecture, Japan.

Following an outbreak of vanA-positive Enterococcus faecium in 2005 in Kyoto prefecture, regional surveillance of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) was initiated. This revealed vanA- or vanB-positive Enterococcus gallinarum in multiple facilities. Eighty-eight vanA-positive E. gallinarum faecal carriers from 12 facilities and ten vanB-positive E. gallinarum faecal carriers from eight facilities were found. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles of the first isolate from each facility showed that 11 of the 12 vanA isolates and three of the eight vanB-positive E. gallinarum isolates belonged to a single clone. This study confirms the clonal spread of vanA- or vanB-positive E. gallinarum in a region and underlines the importance of surveillance of VRE for the presence of vancomycin resistance determinants.

Close cooperation between infectious disease physicians and attending physicians can result in better management and outcome for patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) is a serious infection that demands prompt clinical attention for good outcome. To assess the impact of intervention by infectious diseases physicians (IDPs) in cases with SAB, a retrospective cohort study of patients with SAB was performed in a 1240-bed, university hospital in Japan, with the aim of comparing the management and outcome of patients during the initial and the latter half of the intervention period,. Three hundred and forty-six patients with SAB during the 7-year period, from 2002 to 2008, were included, and 194 patients in the initial half of the period (from 2002 to 2005) were compared with 152 patients in the later period (from 2006 to 2008). There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to patient's clinical background, although more patients in the later period were receiving immunosuppressive treatment. The proportion of methicillin resistant S. aureus was lower during the later period (56.2% vs. 43.3%; p 0.02). Echocardiography was used more frequently (37.1% vs. 64.5%; p < 0.001). Infective endocarditis and metastatic infections were diagnosed more frequently (10.8% vs. 20.4%; p 0.01). Follow-up blood cultures were obtained more regularly (52.1% vs. 73.7%; p <0.001) and therapy was more frequently administered for at least 14 days (47.4% vs. 82.2%; p <0.001). The 30-day mortality improved during the intervention period (25.8% vs. 16.4%; p 0.04). The total number of blood cultures received by the laboratory increased annually and the total number of consultations increased by approximately 1.6-fold compared to 2002. Proactive intervention by IDPs raised awareness of optimal management of bacteraemia and improved the adherence to the standards of care, which subsequently resulted in an improvement in the outcome.

The high molecular mass rhoptry protein, RhopH1, is encoded by members of the clag multigene family in Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium yoelii.

Malarial merozoite rhoptries contain a high molecular mass protein complex called RhopH. RhopH is composed of three polypeptides, RhopH1, RhopH2, and RhopH3, encoded by distinct genes. Using monoclonal antibody-purified protein complex from both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium yoelii, peptides were obtained by digestion of RhopH1 and their sequence determined either by mass spectrometry or Edman degradation. In both species the genes encoding RhopH1 were identified as members of the cytoadherence linked asexual gene (clag) family. In P. falciparum the family members on chromosome 3 were identified as encoding RhopH1. In P. yoelii two related genes were identified and sequenced. One of the genes, pyrhoph1a, was positively identified as encoding RhopH1 by the peptide analysis and the other gene, pyrhoph1a-p, was at least transcribed. Genes in the clag family present in both parasite species have a number of conserved features. The size and location of the P. yoelii protein complex in the rhoptries was confirmed. The first clag gene identified on chromosome 9 was implicated in cytoadherence, the binding of infected erythrocytes to host endothelial cells; this study shows that other members of the family encode merozoite rhoptry proteins, proteins that may be involved in merozoite-erythrocyte interactions. We propose that the family should be renamed as rhoph1/clag.