Wall painting following terminal cleaning with a chlorine solution as part of an intervention to control an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a neurosurgical intensive care unit in Israel

BackgroundTo describe the use of wall painting as part of an intervention to control an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB).MethodsAn interrupted time-series analysis was performed analyzing an intervention in a neurosurgical intensive care unit (NSICU) and an inpatient hematology department in a tertiary level medical center in Israel. The intervention involved wall painting using a water based acrylic paint following patient discharge and terminal cleaning with sodium troclosene as part of an infection control bundle for an outbreak of CRAB in a NSICU and concurrent outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) colonization/infection in the same NSICU and the hematology department.ResultsBetween January 2013 and December 2018, 122 patients hospitalized in the NSICU were identified with new CRAB colonization/infection. The median incidence in the periods prior to/post intervention were 2.24/1000 HD (interquartile range [IQR] 0.84–2.90/1000) vs. 0/1000 HD (IQR 0–0.49/1000), respectively. Poisson regression indicated a decrease of 92% in the CRAB incidence following the intervention onset (relative risk [RR] 0.080, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.037–0.174, p < 0.001). Forty-seven patients in the NSICU and 110 in the hematology department were colonized/infected with CRE in the same time period; a significant change was not observed following the start of the intervention in either department (for NSICU RR 1.236, 95% CI 0.370–4.125, p = 0.731; for hematology RR 0.658, 95% CI 0.314–1.378, p = 0.267).ConclusionsA. baumannii is able to survive on environmental surfaces despite decontamination efforts; wall-painting as part of a bundle may be a successful infection control measure.     

Angiotensin AT2 receptor activates the cyclic-AMP signaling pathway in eel

A unique angiotensin type 2 receptor (AT2) that induces a cAMP signaling pathway was cloned and characterized for the first time in fish, Anguilla japonica. Phylogeny and synteny results showed that the AT2s among fishes and tetrapods share the same origin despite a sub-cluster formation among eel, salmon, and zebrafish. The eel AT2 was expressed abundantly in the spleen and localized at straight arterioles and ellipsoid regions prior to the sinusoid, suggesting a role in the regulation of microcirculation and/or immune response. Various angiotensin (Ang) peptides, including Ang II, Ang III, and Ang IV, were detected in the spleen by a radioimmunoassay coupled with HPLC separation, and these endogenous peptides stimulated a cAMP signaling, which has no crosstalk with cGMP pathway. The common and contrasting features of AT2 between fishes and mammals imply some ancestral characters of AT2, which are important information for receptor binding and evolutionary studies.     

耐碳青霉烯革兰阴性杆菌耐药性及耐药基因blaKPC的分子特征

目的 探讨耐碳青霉烯类革兰阴性杆菌的临床耐药性及耐药基因blaKPC的分子特征。方法 分析2017年1月-2018年12月某院临床检出的耐碳青霉烯类革兰阴性杆菌。通过WHONET 5.6软件对药物敏感试验数据进行统计分析,采用PCR检测碳青霉烯耐药基因blaKPC、blaNDM、blaIMP、blaVIM、blaOXA-48,对PCR阳性产物进行DNA测序,分析耐药基因的分子结构特点。结果 共收集510株耐碳青霉烯类革兰阴性杆菌,其中耐碳青霉烯类肠杆菌科细菌（CRE）420株,耐碳青霉烯非肠杆菌科细菌90株。菌株主要来自重症监护病房（ICU）、神经外科和呼吸科,分别占60.8%、11.8%、5.3%;标本来自痰、脓性分泌物、静脉血、无菌中段尿,分别占66.9%、8.8%、8.2%、6.5%。耐碳青霉烯类革兰阴性杆菌对常用抗菌药物具有较高的耐药性。PCR结果显示,420株CRE中blaKPC、blaNDM、blaIMP的阳性率分别为54.3%（228/420）、1.2%（5/420）、1.4%（6/420）,未检测出blaVIM和blaOXA-48基因,其中肺炎克雷伯菌、产气肠杆菌、大肠埃希菌分别占携带blaKPC CRE的83.8%、11.8%、2.6%;其他少见菌种中也检出blaKPC基因。非肠杆菌科细菌中仅有2株鲍曼不动杆菌检测出blaKPC。DNA测序结果显示,174株携带blaKPC的菌株中173株检测为blaKPC-2、1株检测为blaKPC-1。结论 该地区耐碳青霉烯类革兰阴性菌以CRE为主,其中以携带blaKPC-2的肺炎克雷伯菌占绝对优势,其他菌株中也均有发现。提示临床需重点加强耐碳青霉烯类肺炎克雷伯菌的监测及预防,防控blaKPC的传播流行。     

Development and characterization of DNAzyme candidates demonstrating significant efficiency against human rhinoviruses

1. Download high-res image (359KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

Driving GDNF expression: the green and the red traffic lights

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is widely recognized as a potent survival factor for dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway that degenerate in Parkinson's disease (PD). In animal models of PD, GDNF delivery to the striatum or the substantia nigra protects dopaminergic neurons against subsequent toxin-induced injury and rescues previously damaged neurons, promoting recovery of the motor function. Thus, GDNF was proposed as a potential therapy to PD aimed at slowing down, halting or reversing neurodegeneration, an issue addressed in previous reviews. However, the use of GDNF as a therapeutic agent for PD is hampered by the difficulty in delivering it to the brain. Another potential strategy is to stimulate the endogenous expression of GDNF, but in order to do that we need to understand how GDNF expression is regulated. The aim of this review is to do a comprehensive analysis of the state of the art on the control of endogenous GDNF expression in the nervous system, focusing mainly on the nigrostriatal pathway. We address the control of GDNF expression during development, in the adult brain and after injury, and how damaged neurons signal glial cells to up-regulate GDNF. Pharmacological agents or natural molecules that increase GDNF expression and show neuroprotective activity in animal models of PD are reviewed. We also provide an integrated overview of the signalling pathways linking receptors for these molecules to the induction of GDNF gene, which might also become targets for neuroprotective therapies in PD.