[Refractory colitis by Clostridium difficile treated with fecal microbiota transplant]. / Colitis refractaria por Clostridium difficile tratada con trasplante de microbiota fecal.

Clostridium difficile infection is an increasingly recognized cause of diarrhea in inpatients, frequently associated to high mortality. Vancomycin is the treatment of choice for all Clostridium difficile- associated diarrheas, with different degrees of severity. However, some patients develop refractory forms to that treatment and there are no alternative antibiotic schemes recommended for these cases. Fecal microbiota transplantation has been shown to be successful in a series of cases of severe diarrhea associated with this organism. We present a case of refractory C. difficile infection successfully treated with fecal microbiota transplantation.

La diarrea por Clostridium difficile es reconocida de manera creciente en pacientes hospitalizados y se asocia con alta mortalidad. La vancomicina por vía enteral es el tratamiento antibiótico recomendado para las diferentes formas, incluso las más graves. Sin embargo, un grupo pequeño de pacientes desarrolla formas refractarias a ese tratamiento y no existen esquemas antibióticos alternativos recomendados para estos casos. El trasplante de microbiota fecal ha demostrado ser exitoso en una serie de casos de diarrea grave asociada a este microorganismo. Presentamos un caso de diarrea refractaria por C. difficile que fue tratada con éxito con una infusión de microbiota fecal.

Colitis refractaria por Clostridium difficile tratada con trasplante de microbiota fecal / Refractory colitis by Clostridium difficile treated with fecal microbiota transplant

La diarrea por Clostridium difficile es reconocida de manera creciente en pacientes hospitalizados y se asocia con alta mortalidad. La vancomicina por vía enteral es el tratamiento antibiótico recomendado para las diferentes formas, incluso las más graves. Sin embargo, un grupo pequeño de pacientes desarrolla formas refractarias a ese tratamiento y no existen esquemas antibióticos alternativos recomendados para estos casos. El trasplante de microbiota fecal ha demostrado ser exitoso en una serie de casos de diarrea grave asociada a este microorganismo. Presentamos un caso de diarrea refractaria por C. difficile que fue tratada con éxito con una infusión de microbiota fecal.

Clostridium difficile infection is an increasingly recognized cause of diarrhea in inpatients, frequently associated to high mortality. Vancomycin is the treatment of choice for all Clostridium difficile- associated diarrheas, with different degrees of severity. However, some patients develop refractory forms to that treatment and there are no alternative antibiotic schemes recommended for these cases. Fecal microbiota transplantation has been shown to be successful in a series of cases of severe diarrhea associated with this organism. We present a case of refractory C. difficile infection successfully treated with fecal microbiota transplantation.

[Examination of the genetic variability among biofilm-forming Candida albicans clinical isolates]. / Estudio de la variabilidad genética entre aislamientos clínicos de Candida albicans formadores de biopelículas.

Biofilms are microbial communities encased in a self-produced polymeric matrix and represent a common mode of microbial growth. Candida albicans is able to colonize the surface of catheters, prostheses, and epithelia, forming biofilms that are highly resistant to antimicrobial drugs. The objective of this study was the genotypic characterization of biofilm-forming C. albicans clinical isolates using RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA). We have studied 25 clinical isolates of C. albicans from oral cavities, blood, skin, nail, stool, oesophagus biopsy and vaginal fluids from patients suffering from candidiasis. For each strain biofilm formation was analysed by measuring the ability to adhere to and grow on polystyrene plastic surfaces using XTT [2,3-bis(2-methoxi-4nitro-5sulfophenil)-2H tetrazolium-5carboxanilide] reduction assay. The similarity coefficients generated by RAPD using four different primers varied from 49 to 91%, indicating a high degree of genetic variability between the clinical isolates. The dendrogram clustered the isolates in four related groups, all groups included strains with very different abilities to form biofilms. The isolates with similar genotypes often showed very different biofilm formation abilities. Strains were grouped into clusters independently of their clinical sources. Our results suggested that a direct correlation does not exist between the biofilm-forming ability of natural populations of C. albicans and the genotype as determined by RAPD.