Postpartum infective endocarditis with Enterococcus faecalis in Japan: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The clinical characteristics of infective endocarditis include the presence of predisposing cardiac disease, a history of illegal drug use, and high morbidity in the elderly. Only a few cases of the disease after delivery have been reported in the literature. We describe here a first case of enterococcal postpartum infective endocarditis without underlying disease in Japan. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 31-year-old Japanese woman with postpartum infective endocarditis by Enterococcus faecalis. She had no significant medical history or any unusual social history. After emergency surgery for severe mitral regurgitation and antimicrobial treatment for 6 weeks, she was discharged from our hospital and is now being monitored at an out-patient clinic. CONCLUSIONS: We encountered a case of Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis that occurred in the native valve of a postpartum healthy woman. Although the pathogenesis of this case remains unclear, it could be due to bacteremia arising from the administration of prophylactic broad-spectrum antibiotics used for cesarean section. Previous use of cefotiam and urinary catheter insertion may be risk factors for nosocomial enterococcal bacteremia in this case.

Development of a Widely Usable Amino Acid Tracer: 76Br-α-Methyl-Phenylalanine for Tumor PET Imaging.

UNLABELLED: Radiolabeled amino acids are superior PET tracers for the imaging of malignant tumors, and amino acids labeled with (76)Br, an attractive positron emitter because of its relatively long half-life (16.2 h), could potentially be a widely usable tumor imaging tracer. In this study, in consideration of its stability and tumor specificity, we designed two (76)Br-labeled amino acid derivatives, 2-(76)Br-bromo-α-methyl-l-phenylalanine (2-(76)Br-BAMP) and 4-(76)Br-bromo-α-methyl-l-phenylalanine (4-(76)Br-BAMP), and investigated their potential as tumor imaging agents. METHODS: Both (76)Br- and (77)Br-labeled amino acid derivatives were prepared. We performed in vitro and in vivo stability studies and cellular uptake studies using the LS180 colon adenocarcinoma cell line. Biodistribution studies in normal mice and in LS180 tumor-bearing mice were performed, and the tumors were imaged with a small-animal PET scanner. RESULTS: Both (77)Br-BAMPs were stable in the plasma and in the murine body. Although both (77)Br-BAMPs were taken up by LS180 cells and the uptake was inhibited by L-type amino acid transporter 1 inhibitors, 2-(77)Br-BAMP exhibited higher uptake than 4-(77)Br-BAMP. In the biodistribution studies, 2-(77)Br-BAMP showed more rapid blood clearance and lower renal accumulation than 4-(77)Br-BAMP. More than 90% of the injected radioactivity was excreted in the urine by 6 h after the injection of 2-(77)Br-BAMP. High tumor accumulation of 2-(77)Br-BAMP was observed in tumor-bearing mice, and PET imaging with 2-(76)Br-BAMP enabled clear visualization of the tumors. CONCLUSION: 2-(77)Br-BAMP exhibited preferred pharmacokinetics and high LS180 tumor accumulation, and 2-(76)Br-BAMP enabled clear visualization of the tumors by PET imaging. These findings suggest that 2-(76)Br-BAMP could constitute a potential new PET tracer for tumor imaging and may eventually enable the wider use of amino acid tracers.

Direct analysis of airborne mite allergen (Der f1) in the residential atmosphere by chemifluorescent immunoassay using bioaerosol sampler.

Dermatophagoides farinae allergen (Der f1) is one of the most important indoor allergens associated with allergic diseases in humans. Mite allergen Der f1 is usually associated with particles of high molecular weight; thus, Der f1 is generally present in settled dust. However, a small quantity of Der f1 can be aerosolized and become an airborne component. Until now, a reliable method of detecting airborne Der f1 has not been developed. The aim of this study was to develop a fiber-optic chemifluorescent immunoassay for the detection of airborne Der f1. In this method, the Der f1 concentration measured on the basis of the intensity of fluorescence amplified by an enzymatic reaction between the labeled enzyme by a detection antibody and a fluorescent substrate. The measured Der f1 concentration was in the range from 0.49 to 250 ng/ml and a similar range was found by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This method was proved to be highly sensitive to Der f1 compared with other airborne allergens. For the implementation of airborne allergen measurement in a residential environment, a bioaerosol sampler was constructed. The airborne allergen generated by a nebulizer was conveyed to a newly sampler we developed for collecting airborne Der f1. The sampler was composed of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) cells for gas/liquid phases and some porous membranes which were sandwiched in between the two phases. Der f1 in air was collected by the sampler and measured using the fiber-optic immunoassay system. The concentration of Der f1 in aerosolized standards was in the range from 0.125 to 2.0 mg/m(3) and the collection rate of the device was approximately 0.2%.

Chemical and genetic similarity and diversity of Ligularia anoleuca and L. fischeri collected in the Hengduan Mountains of China.

The sesquiterpenoid composition in the root and the DNA sequences of evolutionarily neutral regions were studied in Ligularia anoleuca and Ligularia fischeri (Asteraceae) collected in the Sichuan Province of China. LC-MS analysis showed that L. anoleuca populations from different localities had different chemical compositions. However, the isolated compounds were similar to each other, indicating that the differences in chemical composition were not large. The DNA analysis suggested that the two species were indistinguishable. Seventeen furanoeremophilanes and an eremophilane acetal were isolated.

Complex diversity in Ligularia kanaitzensis.

Two samples of Ligularia kanaitzensis collected in the Shizhongshan Mountain region of Yunnan Province, as well as one sample collected in Sichuan Province, were analyzed with regard to root constituents and neutral DNA sequences. The two Shizhongshan samples were found to be different from each other and from other samples analyzed previously, indicating that the intra-specific diversity in the species was highly complex.

Chemical constituents of Ligularia nelumbifolia and L. subspicata hybrid collected in Shangrila County, Yunnan Province of China.

Four Ligularia individuals possessing morphological characters of both L. nelumbifolia and L. subspicata were discovered in Shangrila County, Yunnan Province, China. DNA sequencing showed that the specimens were hybrids of the two species and their maternal parent was L. subspicata. The chemical composition of the root extract was examined for three of them as well as L. nelumbifolia and L. subspicata collected sympatrically. Nelumol was isolated from L. nelumbifolia, and furanoeremophilanes from L. subspicata. 1hile nelumol and furanoeremophilanes were detected in two of the hybrid samples, only furanoeremophilanes were detected in the others.