Azithromycin resistance and its molecular characteristics in Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from a tertiary care centre in North India

Treatment guidelines for management of uncomplicated gonorrhoeae have been recently modified owing to alarming upsurge in azithromycin resistance. This study investigated the prevalence and genetic determinants of gonococcal azithromycin resistance in India. Four (5.7%) of 70 gonococcal isolates were resistant to azithromycin. Of 16 isolates investigated for molecular mechanisms of resistance, 13 (81.3%) and 6 (37.5%) isolates exhibited mutations in coding and promoter regions of mtrR gene, respectively. However, ermA, ermB and ermC genes or mutations in rrl gene were absent in all isolates. Azithromycin resistance is low in India posing no immediate threat to use of dual-therapy for syndromic management.     

Glucose starvation induces resistance to metformin through the elevation of mitochondrial multidrug resistance protein 1

Metformin, a drug for type 2 diabetes mellitus, has shown therapeutic effects for various cancers. However, it had no beneficial effects on the survival rate of human malignant mesothelioma (HMM) patients. The present study was performed to elucidate the underlying mechanism of metformin resistance in HMM cells. Glucose‐starved HMM cells had enhanced resistance to metformin, demonstrated by decreased apoptosis and autophagy and increased cell survival. These cells showed abnormalities in mitochondria, such as decreased ATP synthesis, morphological elongation, altered mitochondrial permeability transition pore and hyperpolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Intriguingly, Mdr1 was significantly upregulated in mitochondria but not in cell membrane. The upregulated mitochondrial Mdr1 was reversed by treatment with carbonyl cyanide m‐chlorophenyl hydrazone, an MMP depolarization inducer. Furthermore, apoptosis and autophagy were increased in multidrug resistance protein 1 knockout HMM cells cultured under glucose starvation with metformin treatment. The data suggest that mitochondrial Mdr1 plays a critical role in the chemoresistance to metformin in HMM cells, which could be a potential target for improving its therapeutic efficacy.     

2017年安徽省某三甲医院细菌耐药性监测

目的 了解铜陵市人民医院2017年临床分离细菌对抗菌药物的耐药状况。方法 对2017年1-12月临床分离菌采用纸片扩散法(KB)进行药敏试验，按CLSI 2017年版标准判读药敏试验结果，采用WHONET 5.6软件进行数据分析。结果 临床分离细菌共3436株，其中革兰阳性菌719株，占20.9%；革兰阴性菌2717株，占79.1%。耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌(MRSA)和耐甲氧西林凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌(MRCNS)的检出率分别为23.8%和72.3%，耐甲氧西林株对β-内酰胺类抗生素和其他测试抗菌药物的耐药率显著高于甲氧西林敏感株，未发现对万古霉素和替考拉宁耐药的葡萄球菌。粪肠球菌对青霉素、氨苄西林和呋喃妥因的耐药率较低，屎肠球菌对氯霉素的耐药率较低，5.3%屎肠球菌对万古霉素耐药。大肠埃希菌、克雷伯菌属(肺炎克雷伯菌和产酸克雷伯菌)和奇异变形菌中ESBLs的检出率分别为41.4%、50.7%和19.4%。肠杆菌科细菌中克雷伯菌属和沙雷菌属对碳青霉烯类抗生素耐药率较高，分别为37.5%和36.0%，其他菌属的耐药率低于3%。鲍曼不动杆菌对亚胺培南和美罗培南的耐药率分别80.3%和79.1%；铜绿假单胞菌对亚胺培南和美罗培南的耐药率分别为29.7%和28.4%。肺炎克雷伯菌、鲍曼不动杆菌和铜绿假单胞菌中广泛耐药株的检出率分别为31.3%(171/546)、0.6%(3/508)和0.7%(3/416)。结论 本院革兰阴性菌呈增多趋势，尤其广泛耐药的肺炎克雷伯菌应引起高度关注，做好细菌耐药性监测，加强临床抗菌药物的合理使用和医院感染控制。     

Atypical Abnormal Pulmonary Vein Drainage with Atrial Septal Defect: Surgical Treatment

Sinus venosus atrial septal defect (SV‐ASD) usually coexists with partial anomalous pulmonary vein connection (PAPVC). It is a difficult diagnosis in transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) due to eccentric position of defects. We present a rare case of atypical anatomical variation in PAPVC, which was never described before. Two right pulmonary veins drained into superior vena cava, which overrode SV‐ASD and interatrial septum, a third pulmonary vein into the right atrium. Complete diagnosis could not be set after TTE, nor transesophageal echocardiography, whereas angio‐CT was finally conclusive. This diagnostic approach allowed the surgical planning.     

Chronic high-level multidrug-resistant Campylobacter coli enterocolitis in an agammaglobulinemia patient: Oral gentamicin efficacy

BackgroundCampylobacter is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea in agammaglobulinemia patients. These infections can be severe, prolonged, and recurrent in such patients.Patient and methodsWe report a 29-year-old male patient with X-linked agammaglobulinemia with Campylobacter coli enterocolitis that persisted for nine months despite multiple 10- to 14-day courses of oral ciprofloxacin and azithromycin.ResultsThe isolate was highly resistant to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, tetracycline, and fosfomycin. The patient failed to respond to intravenous ertapenem, 1.0 g/day for two weeks, to which the pathogen was susceptible. He was finally cured with oral gentamicin, 80 mg four times daily, and stool cultures remained negative during the seven-month follow-up.ConclusionOral aminoglycoside might be the most appropriate choice for eradication of persistent Campylobacter in the intestinal tract for macrolide- and fluoroquinolone-resistant isolate in agammaglobulinemia patients with chronic diarrhea or relapsing systemic infections.     

TGFβ promotes YAP‐dependent AXL induction in mesenchymal‐type lung cancer cells

The acquisition of chemoresistance remains a major cause of cancer mortality due to the limited accessibility of targeted or immune therapies. However, given that severe alterations of molecular features during epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) lead to acquired chemoresistance, emerging studies have focused on identifying targetable drivers associated with acquired chemoresistance. Particularly, AXL, a key receptor tyrosine kinase that confers resistance against targets and chemotherapeutics, is highly expressed in mesenchymal cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism of AXL induction in mesenchymal cancer cells is poorly understood. Our study revealed that the YAP signature, which was highly enriched in mesenchymal‐type lung cancer, was closely correlated to AXL expression in 181 lung cancer cell lines. Moreover, using isogenic lung cancer cell pairs, we also found that doxorubicin treatment induced YAP nuclear translocation in mesenchymal‐type lung cancer cells to induce AXL expression. Additionally, the concurrent activation of TGFβ signaling coordinated YAP‐dependent AXL expression through SMAD4. These data suggest that crosstalk between YAP and the TGFβ/SMAD axis upon treatment with chemotherapeutics might be a promising target to improve chemosensitivity in mesenchymal‐type lung cancer.

Abbreviations

AUC

area under the curve

AXL

AXL receptor tyrosine kinase

BCL2

B‐cell lymphoma 2

CTD2

cancer target discovery and development

CTGF

connective tissue growth factor

DEG

differentially expressed genes

DOXO

doxorubicin

EMT

epithelial–mesenchymal transition

Eto

etoposide

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

ITGB3

integrin beta‐3

MAPK

mitogen‐activated protein kinase

MMP2

matrix metalloproteinase‐2

MMP9

matrix metalloproteinase‐9

mRNA

messenger RNA

NF‐κB

nuclear factor kappa‐light‐chain‐enhancer of activated B cells

SBE

SMAD binding element

SERPINE1

serpin family E member 1

siRNA

small interfering RNA

ssGSEA

single‐sample gene set enrichment analysis

TCGA

The Cancer Genome Atlas

TGFβ

transforming growth factor beta

YAP

Yes‐associated protein

YAP8SA

mutants of inhibitory phosphorylation site at eight serine to Alanine of YAP

ZEB1

zinc finger E‐box binding homeobox 1

ZEB2

zinc finger E‐box‐binding homeobox 2

     

孟鲁司特治疗呼吸道合胞病毒毛细支气管炎症状及反复喘息疗效研究

背景　呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）毛细支气管炎易出现反复喘息，且下呼吸道分泌物中半胱氨酸白三烯（CysLTs）水平升高。而孟鲁司特是一种白三烯受体拮抗剂，关于其治疗RSV毛细支气管炎症状的研究相对较少。目的　探讨孟鲁司特改善婴幼儿RSV毛细支气管炎后症状及减轻反复喘息发作的有效性和安全性。方法　2015年6月-2017年6月连续纳入在潍坊市妇幼保健院出院的RSV毛细支气管炎患儿，随机分为治疗组、对照组。Ⅰ期，治疗组：口服孟鲁司特颗粒（4 mg）12周，1次/d；对照组：口服安慰剂12周，1次/d。对两组无症状天数、个人日记评分进行评估。随访9个月（Ⅱ期），观察Ⅰ+Ⅱ期反复喘息人数和医疗资源应用情况等。依据意向性分析（ITT）原则，应用全分析集（FAS）分析数据。结果　共纳入研究对象186例，治疗组92例，对照组94例。治疗组完成Ⅰ期研究的患儿为89例，对照组为90例；治疗组完成Ⅰ+Ⅱ期的患儿为84例，对照组为86例。治疗组平均依从性为97.8%（7 560/7 728），对照组平均依从性为97.4%（7 690/7 896），两组患儿平均依从性比较，差异无统计学意义（χ2=3.16，P=0.07）。在Ⅰ期研究期间，两组无症状天数、日间无症状天数、夜间无症状天数、个人日记评分比较，差异均无统计学意义（P>0.05）。在整个研究过程中（Ⅰ+Ⅱ期），治疗组RSV毛细支气管炎喘息复发人数少于对照组（P<0.05），治疗组喘息患儿出现2次及以上喘息比例低于对照组（χ2=5.14，P=0.02）。Ⅰ+Ⅱ期研究期间治疗组医疗资源应用人数、β-受体激动剂应用人数、糖皮质激素应用人数、住院人数低于对照组（P<0.05）。在事后亚组分析中，治疗组有湿疹史与父母哮喘史的患儿中无症状天数〔（49.7±20.2）、（51.3±20.9）d〕多于对照组〔（36.3±20.4）、（37.8±19.3）d〕（t=2.19，P=0.03；t=2.24，P=0.03）。整个研究过程中没有患儿因不良反应退出研究，两组间胃肠道紊乱、皮疹、转氨酶升高发生率比较，差异均无统计学意义（χ2=0.23，P=0.63；χ2=0.03，P=0.86；χ2=0.15，P=0.69）。结论　口服孟鲁司特（4 mg）12周不能改善RSV毛细支气管炎患儿呼吸道症状，但能降低患儿反复喘息发作次数。口服孟鲁司特（4 mg）有一定效果且安全。