Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to U Höffler.
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The minimum inhibitory concentrations of 45 antimicrobial agents were established by the agar dilution method for 37 strains of Bacteroidaceae: Bacteroides fragilis (18 strains), B. thetaiotaomicron (8 strains), Fusobacterium nucleatum (6 strains), and Fusobacterium spp. (5 strains). The fusobacteria tested showed good susceptibility to beta-lactam-antibiotics, tetracyclines, lincomycins, and nitroimidazole compounds. Bacteria of the B. fragilis group were resistant to most of the penicillins and cephalosporins and could not be suppressed with certainty by nitroimidazoles and older tetracyclines. Doxycycline and minocycline, however, showed sufficient activity, and all our Bacteroides strains tested were sensitive to clindamycin. Especially the good in vitro susceptibility of all Bacteroidaceae strains investigated to cefoxitin may offer new therapeutic possibilities.
Samples of pustules taken from 37 patients with acne (a. vulgaris, a. papulopustulosa, a. conglobata) were examined using different culture mediums for the growth of anaerobic to microaerophilic coryneforms. We identified 46 isolates of Propionibacteria which were tested according to their morphological, biochemical, serological, and phagelysotopic reactions. Three types of Propionibacteria were found: P. acnes (33), P. granulosum (11) and P. avidum (2). Nine samples showed P. acnes combined with P. avidum, four samples from patients with acne conglobata showed P. granulosum or P. avidum only. Tests from 37 patients are too limited to reach definite conclusions. We are not able to suggest any correlation between type and degree of clinical acne, and the isolated Propionibacteria. These data indicate that pustules from patients with acne of all clinical degrees can contain P. acnes as well as other anaerobic coryneforms. Therefore, other species of anaerobic bacteria, particularly those of the "propionibacteria type", should be included in any discussion about the aetiological factors of acne.
114 strains of anaerobic and microaerophilic coryneform bacteria from different origins were investigated for production of free extracellular hyaluronidase (hyaluronate glycanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.36). A quantitative technique was applied measuring the release of N-acetyl-glucosamine groups from purified human potassium hyaluronate. The strains belonged to the following species: Propionibacterium acnes, P. avidum, P. granulosum, P. lymphophilum, the formerly so-called Corynebacterium parvum, P. freudenreichii subsp. freudenreichii and shermanii, P. thoenii, P. acidi-propionici, C. minutissimum, and Arachnia propionica. All together, 59 out of 114 (approximately 51.8%) tested strains showed clearly measurable hyaluronidase activities. P. acnes, the propionibacterium species most frequently found in acne vulgaris lesions, proved to be the most active species tested, 44 out of 64 (approximately 68.8%) P. acnes strains being positive. 5 strains producing hyaluronate glycanohydrolase activities of more than 60 mU/ml in thioglycollate broth cultures could be detected. P. avidum and P. granulosum strains were positive in only 45.0% and 33.3%, respectively, and their mean hyaluronidase activities were significantly lower. Differences in hyaluronidase activities of P. acnes strains isolated from acne vulgaris lesions and strains from normal human skin could not be found. The possible pathogenic role of propionibacteria hyaluronidase in acne vulgaris is discussed.
Frequencies of different staphylococcal nasal carrier classes were studied in groups of students of nursing and of laboratory personnel in Cologne, West Germany, and in Krakow, Poland, by six consecutive samplings of their nasal vestibules. The general number of persistent carriers of S. aureus appeared to be lower than in previous studies, paralleling the diminished numbers of staphylococcal infections in populations. Differences in numbers of persistent carriers between the Cologne and Krakow groups were probably related to the incidence and types of S. aureus in the environment.
A patient on chronic intermittent hemodialysis at home showed signs of acute encephalopathy after an 8-day's treatment with a total dose of 78 g cephacetril (Celospor). Features included papilledema, loss of visual fields, severe generalized EEG changes and bilateral occipital abnormalities on a brain scintigram. Psychopathological findings consisted of a severe psychosis. The visual fields defects were the last sign of the encephalopathy to disappear.
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