Novel cefotaximase (CTX-M-16) with increased catalytic efficiency due to substitution Asp-240-->Gly.

Three clinical strains (Escherichia coli Rio-6, E. coli Rio-7, and Enterobacter cloacae Rio-9) collected in 1996 and 1999 from hospitals in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) were resistant to broad-spectrum cephalosporins and gave a positive double-disk synergy test. Two bla(CTX-M) genes encoding beta-lactamases of pl 7.9 and 8.2 were implicated in this resistance: the bla(CTX-M-9) gene observed in E. coli Rio-7 and E. cloacae Rio-9 and a novel CTX-M-encoding gene, designated bla(CTX-M-16), observed in E. coli strain Rio-6. The deduced amino acid sequence of CTX-M-16 differed from CTX-M-9 only by the substitution Asp-240-->Gly. The CTX-M-16-producing E. coli transformant exhibited the same level of resistance to cefotaxime (MIC, 16 microg/ml) but had a higher MIC of ceftazidime (MIC, 8 versus 1 microg/ml) than the CTX-M-9-producing transformant. Enzymatic studies revealed that CTX-M-16 had a 13-fold higher affinity for aztreonam and a 7.5-fold higher k(cat) for ceftazidime than CTX-M-9, thereby showing that the residue in position 240 can modulate the enzymatic properties of CTX-M enzymes. The two bla(CTX-M-9) genes and the bla(CTX-M-16) gene were located on different plasmids, suggesting the presence of mobile elements associated with CTX-M-encoding genes. CTX-M-2 and CTX-M-8 enzymes were found in Brazil in 1996, and two other CTX-M beta-lactamases, CTX-M-9 and CTX-M-16, were subsequently observed. These reports are evidence of the diversity of CTX-M-type extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in Brazil.

A novel class A extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (BES-1) in Serratia marcescens isolated in Brazil.

Serratia marcescens Rio-5, one of 18 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing strains isolated in several hospitals in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1996 and 1997, exhibited a high level of resistance to aztreonam (MIC, 512 microgram/ml) and a distinctly higher level of resistance to cefotaxime (MIC, 64 microgram/ml) than to ceftazidime (MIC, 8 microgram/ml). The strain produced a plasmid-encoded ESBL with a pI of 7.5 whose bla gene was not related to those of other plasmid-mediated Ambler class A ESBLs. Cloning and sequencing revealed a bla gene encoding a novel class A beta-lactamase in functional group 2be, designated BES-1 (Brazil extended-spectrum beta-lactamase). This enzyme had 51% identity with chromosomal class A penicillinase of Yersinia enterocolitica Y56, which was the most closely related enzyme and 47 to 48% identity with CTX-M-type beta-lactamases, which were the most closely related ESBLs. In common with CTX-M enzymes, BES-1 exhibited high cefotaxime-hydrolyzing activity (k(cat), 425 s(-1)). However, BES-1 differed from CTX-M enzymes by its significant ceftazidime-hydrolyzing activity (k(cat), 25 s(-1)), high affinity for aztreonam (K(i), 1 microM), and lower susceptibility to tazobactam (50% inhibitory concentration [IC(50)], 0.820 microM) than to clavulanate (IC(50), 0.045 microM). Likewise, certain characteristic structural features of CTX-M enzymes, such as Phe-160, Ser-237, and Arg-276, were observed for BES-1, which, in addition, harbored different residues (Ala-104, Ser-171, Arg-220, Gly-240) and six additional residues at the end of the sequence. BES-1, therefore, may be an interesting model for further investigations of the structure-function relationships of class A ESBLs.

A novel CTX-M beta-lactamase (CTX-M-8) in cefotaxime-resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolated in Brazil.

To estimate the diversity of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases in Brazil, 18 strains from different species of the family Enterobacteriaceae exhibiting a positive double-disk synergy test were collected by a clinical laboratory from several hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1996 and 1997. Four strains (Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Citrobacter amalonaticus) hybridized with a 550-bp CTX-M probe. The P. mirabilis strain produced a CTX-M-2 enzyme. The E. cloacae, E. aerogenes, and C. amalonaticus isolates harbored a bla gene which was identified by cloning and sequencing as a bla(CTX-M) gene. E. coli HB101 transconjugants and the E. coli DH5alpha transformant harboring a recombinant plasmid produced a CTX-M beta-lactamase with an isoelectric point of 7.6 conferring a resistance phenotype characterized by a higher level of resistance to cefotaxime than to ceftazidime, as observed with the other CTX-M enzymes. The deduced protein sequence showed a novel Ambler class A CTX-M enzyme, named CTX-M-8, which had 83 to 88% identity with the previously described CTX-M enzymes. The phylogenic study of the CTX-M family including CTX-M-8 revealed four CTX-M types, CTX-M-8 being the first member of a new phylum of CTX-M enzymes. The evolutionary distances between the four types of CTX-M were large, suggesting that the four clusters branched off early from a distant unknown enzyme and that intermediate enzymes probably existed.

Abdominal angiostrongyliasis: third case in Guadeloupe - abstract

Angiostrongylus costaricencis causes a clinicopathologic disease, abdominal angiostrongyliasis (AA), first observed in Costa Rica by Morera and Cespedes. AA is mainly observed in children, and is characterized by abdominal pain typically localized to the right lower quadrant. The disease is mostly endemic to Central and South America. However, the disease has begun to appear outside of its endemic area and may simulate Crohn's disease, and is observed in old persons. We report 3 cases of AA, all diagnosed in the Department of Pathology in the CHU in Guadeloupe, FWI, since 1987. The 3 cases are instructive of the disease and the physician needs to be aware of it. It is also a priority to identify intermediate hosts to prevent the disease (AU)

Fura-2 transport in toad urinary bladder epithelium: effects of antidiuretic hormone, colchicine and osmotic gradients.

Fluorescence is transferred across the toad urinary bladder when fura-2/AM is added to the mucosal or serosal sides of the epithelium. It was now observed that: (1) Oxytocin (20 nM, serosal) increased fluorescence transfer from the mucosal to the serosal but not from the serosal to the mucosal baths. The ratio between the fluorescence intensities recorded with excitation wavelengths of 340 and 380 nm indicates that the calcium sensitive probe (free fura-2) was transferred to the serosal but not to the mucosal compartment by an oxytocin sensitive transport. (2) Preincubation with probenecid did not change fluorescence transfer in basal conditions but significantly reduced the oxytocin induced increase in free fura-2 transport. (3) Fluorescence accumulation inside the tissue was strongly reduced by oxytocin, but only when fura-2/AM was added to the mucosal side. (4) An osmotic gradient, in the presence of oxytocin, further increased the transfer of fluorescence at 380 nm but not at 340 nm. This indicated that the transfer of a calcium-insensitive fraction was being stimulated. (5) Preincubation with colchicine strongly inhibited fluorescence transfer across the tissue, at both 340 and 380 nm (the 340/380 ratio did not change). (6) Tissue accumulation was increased by colchicine. (7) Vanadate did not inhibit fura-2 transfer in the toad urinary bladder. We conclude that intracellularly-generated free fura-2 is only transported across the basolateral border, and that this transfer is stimulated by ADH. The calcium-insensitive fraction is transferred by a temperature-dependent process, sensitive to an osmotic gradient and colchicine.

[Presence of abdominal angiostrongylosis in Guadeloupe. Apropos of 2 recent cases]. / Présence de l'angiostrongylose abdominale en Guadeloupe. A propos de deux cas récents.

The authors describe the first two cases of abdominal angiostrongylosis in Guadeloupe, confirmed by a histological analysis. Physicians must be aware of the presence of Angiostrongylus costaricensis in the West Indies in order to provide better care for children presenting with fever, abdominal pain and rectorragiae, along with intense biological markers of inflammation.