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Biomedical subjects

J Breuil

Publications and source records attributed to J Breuil.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A silent carbapenemase gene in strains of Bacteroides fragilis can be expressed after a one-step mutation.

High-level carbapenem-resistant (CpmR) mutants, with MICs for imipenem and carbapenem of greater than 128 micrograms/ml, were selected in vitro from four carbapenem-susceptible (CpmS) clinical isolates of Bacteroides fragilis. The CpmS strains produced very low levels of beta-lactamase activity, which was increased approx. 50- to 100-fold in the CpmR mutants. Isoelectric focussing and enzyme kinetic analysis (Km and Vrel) of the 'carbapenemases' from the CpmR mutants and similarly resistant clinical isolates suggested a close relatedness of the enzymes. A probe covering most of the cfiA gene encoding such an enzyme (Thompson, J.S. and Malamy, M.H. (1990) J. Bacteriol. 172, 2584-2593) hybridized with DNA from the CpmR mutants, their CpmS parental strains as well as clinical CpmR isolates, but not from randomly chosen carbapenem-susceptible strains. The possibility is considered that mutations leading to expression of the silent carbapenemase gene, and thereby to clinically relevant carbapenem resistance, may also occur in the clinical setting.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins

Survey of the susceptibility patterns of Bacteroides fragilis group strains in France from 1977 to 1992.

Rates of antibiotic resistance within the Bacteroides fragilis group were monitored over a 15-year period in France by examining studies that employed the same methodology to test susceptibility of anaerobic bacteria. Chloramphenicol, metronidazole, beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations and imipenem remained very active against Bacteroides fragilis. There was little or no change in rates of resistance to these antibiotics. Resistance to clindamycin increased from 1% in 1977 to a peak of 19% in 1987, and since then has remained at 8 to 12%. There was some evidence that resistance to most beta-lactam agents increased during the same period. These results emphasize the need for periodic surveys of resistance patterns of the Bacteroides fragilis group in each country.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

Seven years of recurrent severe strongyloidiasis in an HTLV-I-infected man who developed adult T-cell leukaemia.

OBJECTIVE: Human T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I) is endemic in Japan, the Caribbean basin and Africa, where it has been aetiologically linked to certain chronic myelopathies and adult T-cell leukamia (ATL). We sought to investigate whether strongyloidiasis, a parasitic disease common in these areas, might be a cofactor in the pathogenesis of ATL, as some reports have suggested. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: One 35-year-old HTLV-I-seropositive French West Indian man with a 7-year history of recurrent strongyloidiasis associated with episodic hyperinfestation presenting at the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal, Villeneuve St Georges, France. INTERVENTIONS: Treatment with various chemotherapeutic agents and symptomatic therapy for hypercalcaemia and antiviral therapy (zidovudine and interferon). RESULTS: The patient developed ATL and died shortly after, despite chemotherapy. Immunological and virological studies performed during the last 15 months of his life showed an increase of the percentage of peripheral ATL cells, and progression from a polyclonal to a monoclonal integration of HTLV-I proviral DNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear and lymph-node cells. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent strongyloidiasis appears to have been a possible cofactor associated with progression from healthy carrier state to ATL in our patient.

Adult

Arthritis associated with Strongyloides stercoralis.

A case of reactive arthritis combined with uveitis associated with a longstanding and heavy infestation with Strongyloides stercoralis is reported in a 32-year-old HTLV-1 positive West Indian man. Stool examination revealed numerous adult worms and larvae. Treatment with thiabendazole and ivermectin resulted in prompt improvement.

Adult

[Thoracic actinomycosis. Report of 8 cases].

We report 8 cases of thoracic actinomycosis, a disease which is now uncommon owing to the widespread use of antibiotics and which is caused by anaerobic filamentous bacteria living as saprophytes in natural cavities. Recent pathogenetic data, such as propagation by continuity or blood stream, as well as bacteriological and clinical data (mediastino-pulmonary, pleural, parietal, cardiac and disseminated lesions) are reviewed. Diagnostic problems are due to the difficulties encountered in trying to isolate the saprophytic organism, and pathological examination is often required for the diagnosis. Treatment is basically medical and consists of penicillin G or A administered for prolonged periods. Nitroimidazoles are ineffective against these anaerobic bacteria.

Actinomycosis

[Cryptosporidiosis in children: epidemics and sporadic cases].

From April 16 1987 through May 16 1987, during an outbreak of gastroenteritis, stool specimens were obtained from 53 children aged 18 to 36 months among the 90 children attending an on-site day-care center for the staff of a large teaching hospital in the Paris urban area (59%). Oocysts of Cryptosporidium were found in 11 specimens (21%) using an auramine staining technique. Children with diarrhea were more likely to have stools containing Cryptosporidium (p less than 0.01). Subsequently, a prospective study was carried out in the same day care center from July 1987 through January 1988. Among the 103 episodes of diarrhea observed during the study period, there were five cases of cryptosporidiosis (5%). In all these cases, diarrhea was moderate and resolved within ten days. Furthermore, among 148 hospitalized children aged 2 months to 10 years, 2 (1.4%) had positive stool specimens for Cryptosporidium and significant failure to thrive. Thus, Cryptosporidium is a common cause of diarrhea in immunocompetent children, especially in child group settings. Further studies are needed to determine the prevalence and spectrum of the clinical patterns of this parasitic disease.

Child Day Care Centers

Transferable 5-nitroimidazole resistance in the Bacteroides fragilis group.

We report the characterization of a strain of Bacteroides vulgatus, BV17, that exhibits a moderate resistance to 5-nitroimidazoles and carries plasmids of 4.5, 5, 7.7, and 56 kb. A genetic determinant involved in this resistance is carried by the 7.7 +/- 0.2-kb plasmid (pIP417). This plasmid can be introduced and replicated in a sensitive strain of B. fragilis 638R by transformation or by conjugation. In the latter case, the transfer may involve mobilization by the 56-kb conjugative plasmid (pIP418) regularly found in transconjugants but not in transformants.

Bacteroides

Survey of Bacteroides fragilis susceptibility patterns in France.

The in-vitro activities of 19 antimicrobial agents were determined by an agar dilution technique against 300 isolates of the Bacteroides fragilis group, collected from several French hospitals during 1987 and 1988. Results were compared with data determined for strains isolated in 1977. Amongst beta-lactam antibiotics, amoxycillin + clavulanic and imipenem displayed the best activity, although two strains resistant to both amoxycillin clavulanate and imipenem were obtained in the 1987-1988 survey. Chloramphenicol was invariably active against isolates from both periods. Much more resistance to clindamycin was seen in isolates from the more recent survey. Resistance to 5-nitroimidazoles was not observed in isolates from the 1977 survey but was present in a few isolates from the more recent study.

4-Quinolones

[Pefloxacin and cat-scratch disease].

Three patients with cat scratch diseases were treated with pefloxacin (800 mg p.d.). Three of four criteria of the diagnosis were present. The pathogen of the disease is probably an intracellular Gram negative bacilli with a deficient wall. Improvement was obtained in one case and partial response in two other cases.

Adolescent