Antimicrobial-Resistance Profile of Helicobacter pylori, Obtained from Endoscopic Patients in Bahir Dar, North West Ethiopia.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance for Helicobacter pylori infection is a highly emerging problem throughout the world to treat gastric-associated diseases. People living in developing countries are more likely to acquire a Helicobacter pylori infection and less likely to gate treatment after infection due to poverty. Therefore, the current study was aimed at determining the magnitude and antibiotic-resistance profile of Helicobacter pylori isolated from patients who underwent endoscopic examination. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to May 2019 at endoscopy service-providing health facilities that are found in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia (Gamby teaching general hospital, Kidane Mihret specialty higher clinic, and Eyasta specialty higher clinic). Data were collected using a pretested, structured questionnaire. Antibiotic susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori isolates from gastric biopsies was determined. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results: The 17.8% proportion of Helicobacter pylori was isolated from 135 endoscopy-examined patients (24/135). The majority of isolates (71% of 17/24) were from males, while only 29% of 7/24) were from females. Antimicrobial-resistance of Helicobacter pylori was high to all commonly prescribed antibiotics: amoxicillin and metronidazole (91.7%), clarithromycin and ciprofloxacin (66.7% each), and tetracycline (37.5%). Conclusion: Helicobacter pylori isolates from the current study participants were rather low in number. But the highest antibiotic-resistance profile of Helicobacter pylori was observed. Therefore, these findings alarmingly indicate that routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing against Helicobacter pylori isolates is crucial for better patient management.

Spoligotype analysis of Mycobacterium bovis isolates from cattle and assessment of zoonotic TB transmission among individuals working in bovine TB-infected dairy farms in Ethiopia.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a disease with impact on dairy productivity, as well as having the potential for zoonotic transmission. Understanding the genetic diversity of the disease agent Mycobacterium bovis is important for identifying its routes of transmission. Here we investigated the level of genetic diversity of M. bovis isolates and assessed the zoonotic potential in risk groups of people working in bTB-infected dairy farms in central Ethiopia. M. bovis was isolated and spoligotyped from tissue lesions collected from slaughtered cattle as well as from raw milk collected from bTB positive cows in dairy farms from six urban areas of central Ethiopia. From consented dairy farm workers, knowledge and practices related to zoonotic TB transmission, together with demographic and clinical information, was collected through interviews. Sputum or Fine Needle Aspirate (FNA) samples were collected from suspected TB cases. Spoligotyping of 55 M. bovis isolates that originated either from cattle tissues with tuberculous lesion or from raw milk revealed seven spoligotype patterns where SB1176 was the most prevalent type (47.3%). Most isolates (89.1%) were of the M. bovis African 2 clonal complex. All sputum and FNA samples from 41 dairy farm workers with symptoms of TB were culture negative for any mycobacteria. Among the 41 TB suspected farm workers, 61% did not know about bTB in cattle and its zoonotic potential, and over two-third of these workers practiced raw milk consumption. Our spoligotype analysis suggests a wider transmission of a single spoligotype in the study area. The results reported here may be useful in guiding future work to identify the source and direction of bTB transmission and hence design of a control strategy. Isolation of M. bovis from milk, knowledge gap on zoonotic TB and practice of consumption of raw milk in the study population showed potential risk for zoonotic transmission.

Mucosa-associated cultivable aerobic gut bacterial microbiota among colorectal cancer patients attending at the referral hospitals of Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the top ten causes of cancer deaths in the world. Despite an increased prevalence of colorectal cancer has been documented from developing countries, there is no any report regarding gut microbiota among colorectal cancer patients in Ethiopia. Therefore, the current study evaluated cultivable aerobic gut bacterial distributions among malignant and its adjacent normal biopsies of CRC patients. METHODS: CRC patients who were under colorectal cancer resection surgery during April 2017 to February 2018 at Felege Hiwot Referral and University of Gondar Teaching Hospitals enrolled in the study. Biopsy specimens were taken from malignant and its adjacent normal-appearing tissues. Bacterial cultivation, quantification and characterization of saline washed biopsies were performed under aerobic and candle jar conditions. Differences in bacterial microbiota compositions between malignant and normal tissue biopsies were evaluated and analyzed using Microsoft excel 2010 and GraphPad Prism5 statistical software. RESULTS: Fifteen CRC patients were participated with a mean age of 53.8 ± 10.8 years old and majorities (73.3 %) of patients were in between the age groups of 40 and 60 years old. The mean ± SD bacterial microbiota of malignant biopsies (3.2 × 105 ± 1.6 × 105 CFU/ml) was significantly fewer than that of adjacent normal tissue biopsies (4.0 × 105 ± 2.2 × 105 CFU/ml). This dysbacteriosis is positively correlated with the occurrence of CRC (p = 0.019). Proteobacteria (55.6 %), Firmicutes (33.3 %) and Fusobacteria (11.1 %) were the most frequently isolated phyla from non-malignant biopsies while only Proteobacteria (58.8 %) and Firmicutes (41.2 %) were from malignant ones. Family level differences were observed among phyla (Firmicutes and Proteobacteria) isolated from the study participants. For instance, the relative abundance of family Bacillaceae from malignant (26 %) was lower than the normal biopsies (39 %). On other hand, family Enterobacteriaceae was twice more abundant in malignant tissues (45 %) than in its matched normal tissues (23 %). Furthermore, the family Enterococcaceae (14 %) of phylum Firmicutes was solely isolated from malignant tissue biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: The overall microbial composition of normal and malignant tissues was considerably different among the study participants. Further culture independent analysis of mucosal microbiota will provide detail pictures of microbial composition differences and pathogenesis of CRC in Ethiopian settings.