Staphylococcus aureus interaction with Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm enhances tobramycin resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance is a significant threat to the treatment of infectious disease. Multiple mechanisms of resistance to different classes of antibiotics have been identified and well-studied. However, these mechanisms are studied with bacteria in isolation, whereas often, infections have a polymicrobial basis. Using a biofilm slide chamber model, we visualized the formation and development of clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in the presence of secreted Staphylococcus aureus exoproducts, two bacteria that commonly co-infect pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis. We showed that, over time, certain isolates of P. aeruginosa can form different biofilm architecture in the presence of S. aureus exoproducts. We further determined that this interaction was dependent on Psl produced by P. aeruginosa and staphylococcal protein A from S. aureus. Importantly, we identified a mechanism of antibiotic resistance to tobramycin that is dependent on the polymicrobial interactions between these two bacteria. This interaction occurred in isolates of P. aeruginosa recovered from children with cystic fibrosis who failed to clear P. aeruginosa following inhaled tobramycin treatment.

Chronic infection phenotypes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are associated with failure of eradication in children with cystic fibrosis.

Early eradication treatment with inhaled tobramycin is successful in the majority of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) with incident Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. However, in 10-40 % of cases, eradication fails and the reasons for this are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether specific microbial characteristics could explain eradication treatment failure. This was a cross-sectional study of CF patients (aged 0-18 years) with incident P. aeruginosa infection from 2011 to 2014 at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. Phenotypic assays were done on all incident P. aeruginosa isolates, and eradicated and persistent isolates were compared using the Mann-Whitney test or the two-sided Chi-square test. A total of 46 children with CF had 51 incident P. aeruginosa infections. In 72 % (33/46) of the patients, eradication treatment was successful, while 28 % failed eradication therapy. Persistent isolates were less likely to be motile, with significantly less twitch motility (p=0.001), were more likely to be mucoid (p=0.002), and more likely to have a tobramycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≥ 128 µg/mL (p=0.02) compared to eradicated isolates. Although biofilm production was similar, there was a trend towards more persistent isolates with deletions in quorum-sensing genes compared with eradicated isolates (p=0.06). Initial acquisition of P. aeruginosa with characteristics of chronic infection is associated with failure of eradication treatment.

Comparison of three typing methods for Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis.

The aim of this study was to compare two traditional pattern matching techniques, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), with the more reproducible technique of multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to genotype a blinded sample of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. A blinded sample of 48 well-characterized CF P. aeruginosa isolates was genotyped by PFGE, RAPD, and MLST, each performed in a different laboratory. The discriminatory power and congruence between the methods were compared using the Simpson's index, Rand index, and Wallace coefficient. PFGE and MLST had the greatest congruence with the highest Rand index (0.697). The discriminatory power of PFGE, RAPD, and MLST were comparable, with high Simpson's indices (range 0.973-0.980). MLST identified the most clonal relationships. When clonality was defined as agreement between two or more methods, MLST had the greatest predictive value (100 %) in labeling strains as unique, while PFGE had the greatest predictive value (96 %) in labeling strains as clonal. This study demonstrated the highest level of agreement between PFGE and MLST in genotyping P. aeruginosa isolates from CF patients. MLST had the greatest predictive value in identifying strains as unique and, thus, has the potential to be a cost-efficient, high-throughput, first-pass typing method.

Development of monoclonal antibodies which specifically recognize Entamoeba histolytica in preserved stool samples.

We report the generation of monoclonal antibodies against a recombinant 170-kDa subunit of the Gal or GalNAc lectin of Entamoeba histolytica that specifically recognize E. histolytica but not Entamoeba dispar in preserved stool samples. These antibodies do not cross-react with other bowel protozoa, including Entamoeba coli, Giardia lamblia, and Dientamoeba fragilis.

The cysteine-rich region of the Entamoeba histolytica adherence lectin (170-kilodalton subunit) is sufficient for high-affinity Gal/GalNAc-specific binding in vitro.

Adherence of Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites to colonic mucin, epithelium, and other target cells is mediated by the amebic Gal/GalNAc lectin. We constructed in vitro expression vectors containing full-length (residues 1 to 1280), cysteine-poor (1 to 353 and 1 to 480), and cysteine-rich (356 to 1143 and 480 to 900) fragments of the gene encoding the heavy subunit of the adherence lectin, hgl2. In vitro transcription followed by translation using a nuclease-treated rabbit reticulocyte lysate system was carried out. Immunoreactivity of in vitro-translated Hgl2 was confirmed by immunoprecipitation with lectin-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) 1G7 and 8A3, which recognize linear epitopes. Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) refolding of Hgl2 enhanced immunoreactivity (P < 0.05) with the conformationally dependent MAb 3F4. Binding of PDI-refolded full-length (P < 0.001) and cysteine-rich (P = 0.005) Hgl2 to CHO cells was galactose dependent and competitively inhibited by native hololectin (50% inhibitory concentration of 39.6 ng/ml). The cysteine-poor region (1 to 353) did not bind CHO cells. Both full-length (1 to 1280) and cysteine-rich (356 to 1143) Hgl2 bound the glyconeoconjugate GalNAc(19)BSA in a GalNAc-specific manner. The smaller cysteine-rich fragment (480 to 900) also exhibited GalNAc-specific binding but to a lesser extent (P < 0.05) than residues 1 to 1280 and 356 to 1143. Neither the cysteine-poor fragment (1 to 480), luciferase (protein control), nor control translation reactions (without hgl2 lectin mRNA) bound GalNAc(19)BSA. Binding to GalNAc(19)BSA was shown to be dependent on the concentration of GalNAc(19)BSA coated in each well or (35)S-lectin added (K(D) = 0.85 +/- 0.37 pM). Binding was competitively inhibited by the terminal GalNAc-containing glycoprotein asialofetuin (P < 0.005). Taken together, these data provide direct evidence that the cysteine-rich region of the Gal/GalNAc lectin heavy subunit contains one or more carbohydrate-binding domains.

Improved detection of Malassezia species in lipid-supplemented Peds Plus blood culture bottles.

The growth of Malassezia species in BACTEC Peds Plus blood culture bottles was optimized by using various lipid supplements. Palmitic acid (3%, wt/vol) was superior and overcame the inhibitory effect of blood in mock clinical specimens. Palmitic acid (3%) supplementation of Peds Plus bottles may improve recovery of Malassezia species in the BACTEC NR 660.

Fungal sternal wound infection due to Curvularia lunata in a neonate with congenital heart disease: case report and review.

We describe a neonate with congenital heart disease in whom a sternal wound infection caused by the filamentous fungus Curvularia lunata developed following cardiac surgery. Despite their widespread distribution in the environment, Curvularia species rarely cause human infection. We also review the 43 cases of curvularia infection previously reported in the English-language literature; only four of these cases occurred in children. A wide spectrum of infections--including keratitis, cutaneous infections, sinusitis, allergic bronchopulmonary disease, pneumonia, chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis-related infections, endocarditis and disseminated infections--have been described. Curvularia is a pathogen that can cause disease in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts, although more severe and disseminated disease occurs in patients with defective immune function. Surgery alone usually is successful for treating locally invasive disease, although a combination of medical and surgical therapy is necessary for treating disseminated infections.