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Biomedical subjects

C Tancrede

Publications and source records attributed to C Tancrede.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Should vancomycin be used empirically in febrile patients with prolonged and profound neutropenia? Results of a randomized trial.

OBJECTIVES: We conducted a randomized trial with ceftazidine alone or associated with amikacin or vancomycin to investigate the efficacy of the daily 3 g dosage of ceftazidime and the efficacy of monotherapy with ceftazidime and to determine if vancomycin should be added empirically. METHODS: Patient inclusion criteria were: age over 10 years, therapeutically-induced neutropenia and fever for at least three hours above 38.5 degrees C in absence of a clear non-infectious aetiology. Patients were randomized into three groups: group C, ceftazidime alone 3 g/day; group CA, ceftazidime 3 g/day plus amikacin 15 mg/kg/day; or group C, ceftazidime 3 g/day plus vancomycin 1.5 g/day. RESULTS: Results from one hundred and two episodes of fever were analyzed. The underlying diseases were haematological malignancies (89 patients) and solid tumours (13 patients). The median duration of neutropenia (< 0.5 x 10(9) PMN/L) was 18 days and the minimum duration of 7 days. The main criterion for the analysis of efficacy was the onset of a major infectious event, i.e. death related to documented or suspected infection and any infectious event considered life-threatening or hindering future treatment of the underlying disease. Eight (22%) patients in group C developed major infectious events compared with four (13%) in group CA and none in group CV (p < 0.01). Major infectious events were mainly due to Gram-positive organisms, particularly Streptococcus species. CONCLUSION: We conclude that: 1) ceftazidime alone and in association with amikacin is effective in preventing Gram-negative major infectious events; and 2) vancomycin should not be added only when a Gram-positive infection is documented, but used empirically.

Adolescent↗

A reverse polymerase chain reaction method for detection of human cytomegalovirus late transcripts in cells infected in vitro.

A rapid and simple application of the polymerase chain reaction is described for the detection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) mRNAs in cells infected in-vitro. The method was first used to study the transcription of two HCMV genes, and confirm the link between the transcription of one, encoding for the major capsid protein, and viral replication. The oligonucleotides chosen in this region were specific for HCMV genome and sensitivity experiments showed that a single infected cell in 5 x 10(5) can be detected. Detection of this transcript should be suitable for diagnostic purposes, permitting the distinction between latency and active infection.

Base Sequence↗

Kinetics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae elimination from the intestines of human volunteers and effect of this yeast on resistance to microbial colonization in gnotobiotic mice.

When healthy volunteers were given a daily dose of 3 x 10(8) life-dehydrated Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells for 5 days, the volunteers excreted 10(5) living yeast cells per g of feces at first, but the yeast cells disappeared within 5 days of the end of treatment. In gnotobiotic mice, S. cerevisiae administered alone colonized the intestinal tract but did not interfere with previous or subsequent colonization by a variety of potentially enteropathogenic microorganisms. When these microorganisms were present, the intestinal counts of S. cerevisiae were greatly reduced.

Adult↗

Role of parenteral antibiotherapy in gastrointestinal tract flora suppression. A study in children treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation.

In order to determine the effect of parenteral antibiotherapy on the fecal flora in patients with profound and prolonged granulocytopenia, we initiated a prospective study of 62 cases of autologous bone marrow transplantation following high-dose chemotherapy. All patients were children from 2 to 18 years old, isolated in a protective environment, receiving a diet low in viable microbial content but no oral non-absorbable prophylactic antibiotics to decontaminate the gastrointestinal tract. Bacteriological analysis of fecal flora was conducted at least once a week before and during parenteral antibiotherapy, administered at the first greater than 38 degrees C febrile episode in these granulocytopenic patients (granulocyte count less than 0.5 X 10(9)/l). The 58 evaluable patients fell into three groups with regard to the systemic antibiotherapy: group A (n = 16): moxalactam + mezlocillin; group B (n = 15): moxalactam + tobramycin; and group C (n = 27): cefotaxime plus gentamicin. Fecal flora suppression was observed in 51/58 cases (88%) (group A: 15/16, group B: 13/15, group C: 23/27). It always occurred within 5 days of initiating parenteral antibiotherapy and persisted in 88% of the 51 patients over the whole period of systemic antibiotherapy. During the latter, fecal recolonization was observed in seven cases (12%), always by Enterobacteriaceae sensitive to the prescribed systemic antibiotherapy, never responsible for septicemia. Since parenteral antibiotherapy alone was able to suppress the gastrointestinal tract flora, the effects of this treatment should be considered in all trials of digestive tract decontamination.

Adolescent↗

Comparative translocation of enteropathogenic Campylobacter spp. and Escherichia coli from the intestinal tract of gnotobiotic mice.

In C3H gnotobiotic mice, no significant difference was observed between the translocation of nine clinical isolates of enteropathogenic Campylobacter spp. and that of seven nonisogeneic Escherichia coli strains with or without various determinants of pathogenicity. In addition, there was no correlation found between the intensity of translocation of Campylobacter strains and the signs of invasiveness in the patients from whom the strains had been isolated.

Animals↗

Epidemiology of intestinal colonization by members of the family Enterobacteriaceae highly resistant to erythromycin in a hematology-oncology unit.

Intestinal colonization by highly erythromycin-resistant members of the family Enterobacteriaceae was surveyed for 4 years in a hematology-oncology unit. Fifty-four of 555 patients (9.7%) were colonized, each with a different strain. The incidence of intestinal carriage was not correlated with erythromycin consumption in the ward but was strongly associated with individual exposure to erythromycin.

Carrier State↗

Epidemiology of intestinal colonization by members of the family Enterobacteriaceae resistant to cefotaxime in a hematology-oncology unit.

Intestinal colonization by members of the family Enterobacteriaceae resistant to cefotaxime was surveyed for 3 years in a hematology-oncology unit. Of 416 patients, 66 (15.9%) were colonized, each with a different strain. The incidence of intestinal carriage was not correlated with cefotaxime consumption in the ward but was strongly associated with individual exposure to cefotaxime.

Agranulocytosis↗

In vivo activity of nifurzide and nifuroxazide in intestinal bacteria in man and gnotobiotic mice.

Although Gram-negative enteropathogenic bacteria are the target strains of nifurzide and nifuroxazide treatments, neither drug affected faecal counts of in vitro-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae in healthy volunteers. This absence of activity was shown to be due to the poor solubility of the drugs tested. Therefore, effect of high doses of nifurzide was investigated in gnotobiotic mice. Activity against in vitro susceptible enteropathogens was then observed. Normal bacterial cells were replaced in the faeces by elongated, nonseptate and unflagellated mutants. Moreover, the resistance to colonization by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Shigella flexeri of an anaerobic flora of human origin was sharply decreased.

Animals↗

[In vitro activity of cefotaxime against enterobacteriaceae. Comparison with cephalothin, cefazolin, cefamandole, cefoxitin and cefuroxime on 117 strains isolated from neutropenic patients (author's transl)].

The considerable activity of cefotaxime on enterobacteriaceae is especially useful in neutropenic patients who are particularly at risk of septicaemia complications. The rapidly fatal development of this type of infections necessitates the use of a presumably efficacious therapy even before the result of blood cultures are obtained. The in vitro activity of cefotaxime in enterobacteriaceae has been compared to that of cephalothin, cefazolin, cefamandole, cefoxitin and cefuroxime.

Cefotaxime↗

R-plasmic transfer from Serratia liquefaciens to Escherichia coli in vitro and in vivo in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic mice associated with human fecal flora.

It was shown that a strain of Serratia liquefaciens harbors a conjugative R-plasmid responsible for reistance to the following 14 antibiotics: ampicillin, carbenicillin, cephalothin, butirosin, neomycin, paramomycin, kanamycin, lividomycin, gentamicin, tobramycin, streptomycin, tetracycline, sulfonamide, and chloramphenicol, which belong to five families, the beta-lactamines, the aminoglycosides, the tetracyclines, the sulfonamides, and the phenicols. Resistance to th 14 antibiotics was cotransferred by in vitro conjugation between S. liquefaciens and strains of Escherichia coli. Mating between S. liquefaciens and E. coli also occurred in vivo, in the digestive tract of axenic mice and gnotobiotic mice associated with the whole human fecal flora. It was also shown that mating between these two strains occurred even when the donor S. liquefaciens strain was only transient in the digestive tract of the gnotobiotic host animals. A dense population of Bacteroides (10(10) viable cells per g of fresh feces) did not hinder this mating. All the matings occurred in the absence of an antibiotic selection pressure, and the resulting transferred strain of E. coli did not have the same colonizing capacity as the recipient parental strain. However, during antibiotic administration to mice, and even after the end of the drug intake, the transconjugant became established in the dominant population and replaced the parental recipient strain.

Animals↗

[Bone marrow biopsy in the diagnosis of hematopoietic tuberculosis].

The authors report 6 cases of tuberculosis of the bone marrow, in which the diagnosis was made by biopsy. Three of these cases, included peripheral blood abnormalities, such as pancytopenia, whereas in the three other, nothing special was found on routine blood examination. All the patients, except one who died from intercurrent infection, became cured thanks to anti-tuberculosis treatment. Marrow biopsy thus permits early diagnosis, miliary tuberculosis, even when usual radiological and bacteriological investigations are negative.

Adult↗

[Prolonged anuria during bacterial endocarditis].

The authors report a case of anuria which lasted 3 months in a patient with sub-acute streptoccocal endocarditis. The investigations led to the discovery, at the level of the kidneys, of arterial aneurysms, renal infarction and diffuse endo-capillary proliferative glomerulonephritis, with deposits of complement and immunoglobulin and finally, interstitial nephritis, perhaps of metastatic origin, which was probably the lesion responsible for the renal failure. Renal function progressively improved and hemodialysis was stopped at the 6th month after correction of the mitral and aortic valve disease.

Acute Kidney Injury↗