Vancomycin sensitivity and KOH string test as an alternative to gram staining of bacteria

Two hundred and eighteen bacterial isolates obtained from various clinical samples were subjected to Gram stain by conventional method. For all the isolates potassium hydroxide (KOH) string test and sensitivity to vancomycin were done. Gram positive bacteria showed 100% sensitivity to vancomycin as also 100% negativity for string test. Of the gram negative bacteria, 99.42% were resistant to vancomycin while 98.85% were positive for the string test. KOH and vancomycin tests are simple, inexpensive and can be used in addition to Gram staining for rapid identification of bacterial cultures.     

Subtenons infection by Dirofilaria repens

Zoonotic filariasis caused by Dirofilaria repens, a parasite of carnivores occurs mainly in countries surrounding Mediterranean region. The infection occurs in and around eye among animal handlers through vector transmission. We are reporting a case of human Dirofilariasis affecting subtenons region in a 63 year-old woman from Coimbatore, South India. The purpose of this article is to review the clinical course and management of ocular Dirofilariasis.     

Epidemiology of breast cancer in Indian women

Breast cancer has ranked number one cancer among Indian females with age adjusted rate as high as 25.8 per 100,000 women and mortality 12.7 per 100,000 women. Data reports from various latest national cancer registries were compared for incidence, mortality rates. The age adjusted incidence rate of carcinoma of the breast was found as high as 41 per 100,000 women for Delhi, followed by Chennai (37.9), Bangalore (34.4) and Thiruvananthapuram District (33.7). A statistically significant increase in age adjusted rate over time (1982–2014) in all the PBCRs namely Bangalore (annual percentage change: 2.84%), Barshi (1.87%), Bhopal (2.00%), Chennai (2.44%), Delhi (1.44%) and Mumbai (1.42%) was observed. Mortality‐to‐incidence ratio was found to be as high as 66 in rural registries whereas as low as 8 in urban registries. Besides this young age has been found as a major risk factor for breast cancer in Indian women. Breast cancer projection for India during time periods 2020 suggests the number to go as high as 1797900. Better health awareness and availability of breast cancer screening programmes and treatment facilities would cause a favorable and positive clinical picture in the country.     

A sensitive test for the detection of specific DSB repair defects in primary cells from breast cancer specimens

Increasing evidence indicates that breast cancer pathogenesis is linked with DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair dysfunction. This conclusion is based on advances in the study of functions of breast cancer susceptibility genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, on the identification of breast cancer-associated changes regarding the genetics, expression, and localization of multiple DSB repair factors, and on observations indicating enhanced radiation-induced chromosomal damage in cells from predisposed individuals and sporadic breast cancer patients. In this pilot study, we describe a sensitive method for the analysis of DSB repair functions in mammary carcinomas. Using this method we firstly document alterations in pathway-specific DSB repair activities in primary cells originating from familial as well as sporadic breast cancer. In particular, we identified increases in the mutagenic nonhomologous end joining and single-strand annealing mechanisms in sporadic breast cancers with wild-type BRCA1 and BRCA2, and, thus, similar phenotypes to tumors with mutant alleles of BRCA1 and BRCA2. This suggests that detection of error-prone DSB repair activities may be useful to extend the limits of genotypic characterization of high-risk susceptibility genes. This method may, therefore, serve as a marker for breast cancer risk assessment and, even more importantly, for the prediction of responsiveness to targeted therapies such as to inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP1).     

"Inducible clindamycin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical samples"

Increasing frequency of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and changing patterns in antimicrobial resistance have led to renewed interest in the use of macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (MLS) antibiotics to treat such infections. Inducible macrolides, lincosamides, type B streptogramins (MLS(Bi)) resistance has to be identified to avoid clinical failure of clindamycin therapy. Hence we wanted to study the incidence of inducible clindamycin resistance in MRSA and methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 1049 patients over a period of two years from various clinical materials. All the isolates were tested for inducible clindamycin resistance by disc diffusion induction test (D-zone test). A total of 726 MSSA and 323 MRSA were tested for the inducible clindamycin resistance (MLS(Bi)) by D-zone test. Inducible resistance to clindamycin (MLS(Bi)) where D test was positive was observed in 42.1% of MRSA and 3.4% of MSSA. Inducible resistance to clindamycin (MLS(Bi)) was found to be higher in MRSA than MSSA isolates. Clindamycin is one of the important alternative antibiotics to treat MRSA infections in resource poor countries. To avoid treatment failure with clindamycin, prior D testing is necessary.