Archive for September 19, 2014
Introduction to antiseptics.
Aten Primaria. 2014 May;46 Suppl 2:1-9.
[Article in Spanish]
González LL1, Gutiérrez Pérez MI2, Lucio-Villegas Menéndez ME3, Lluch NA4, Morató Agustí ML5, Cachafeiro SP6; Grupo de Enfermedades Infecciosas de la semFYC; Coordinadora del Grupo Infecciosas SocalemFYC.
Author information
1Médico de Familia, EOXI de Pontevedra e O Salnés, Pontevedra, España.
2Médico de Familia, Centro de Salud Renedo de Esgueva, Valladolid Rural I, Valladolid, España. Sacyl-Castilla y León.
3Médico de Familia, Unidad de Gestión Clínica Amante Laffon, Distrito Sanitario de Atención Primaria, Sevilla, España.
4Enfermera, Centro de Atención Primaria de Sant Just Desvern, Barcelona, España. Grupo de Profilaxis en Enfermedades Infecciosas de la CAMFIC.
5Médico de Familia, Coordinadora del Grupo de Profilaxis en Enfermedades Infecciosas de la CAMFIC.
6Médico de Familia, PAC de Cambados, EOXI de Pontevedra e O Salnés, Pontevedra, España. Electronic address: santiago.perez.cachafeiro@sergas.es.
Abstract
Antiseptics are anti-infectious agents for local use on the skin or mucosa, which distinguishes them from disinfectants, which are used on inanimate surfaces usually because of their toxicity.
The present article explains the differences among the multiple possible antiseptics; special attention is paid to the most common, such as alcohol, chlorhexidine, povidone iodine, and oxygenated water.
Finally, we stress the different antiseptic formulations, which increase the usefulness of these agents in specific indications.
Detection of Antiseptic-Resistance Genes in Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter spp. Isolated From Burn Patients.
Jundishapur J Nat Pharm Prod. 2014 Apr 3;9(2):e15402.
Mahzounieh M, Khoshnood S, Ebrahimi A, Habibian S, Yaghoubian M.
Author information
Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, IR Iran.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC), which contain benzalkonium chloride as the most widely used agent, are employed as wound and skin antiseptics, as well as disinfectants in hospitals. The resistance mechanism to disinfectants is usually determine by genes which are related to resistance to quaternary ammonium compounds, namely, qacE, qacΔE1, qacΔE1 that are found in Gram-negative bacteria.
OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of antiseptic resistance genes, qacE and qacΔE1, in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter bumanii.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
In this study, 83 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 5 isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii from burn hospitals in Tehran and Isfahan provinces in 2010-2011, were tested by the PCR method.
RESULTS:
Out of the 83 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 49 isolates (50%) had the qacE gene, and 76 isolates (91.5%) had the qacΔE1 gene. In addition, in 5 isolates of Acinetobacter bumanii, 2 isolates (40%) had the qacE gene, and 4 isolates (80%) had the qacΔE1 gene.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study shows that the genes which harbored resistance to quaternary ammonium compound antiseptics are widespread among Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter bumanii isolates in burn patients.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4036384/pdf/jjnpp-09-02-15402.pdf
Elite control of HIV Infection: implications for vaccines and treatment.
Top HIV Med. 2007 Aug-Sep;15(4):134-6.
Walker BD.
Author information
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
Spontaneous and sustained (“elite,” or aviremic) control of HIV infection (ie, maintaining HIV RNA to less than 50 copies/mL in the absence of therapy) appears to occur in approximately 1 in 300 HIV-infected persons, and represents a distinct phenotype among HIV-infected individuals.
Through a recently established international collaboration called the HIV Controller Consortium, over 300 elite controllers have been identified and blood samples collected.
These ongoing studies will not only examine the immune responses to HIV that elite controllers generate, but will also make use of a newly available approach to defining the genetic basis of disease.
Specifically, the consortium is attempting to determine the genetic basis underlying spontaneous control by performing whole genome analysis scans together with functional immunology studies in a large population of elite controllers.
The goal of these studies is to provide insights that will help define the crucial parameters present in persons who are able to control HIV infection, similar to the control most people have with Epstein-Barr virus and varicella, namely by holding the virus in check. These findings could assist in the development of vaccines and new therapies.
This article summarizes a presentation on spontaneous control of HIV infection and its implications for vaccine development made by Bruce D. Walker, MD, at an International AIDS Society-USA Continuing Medical Education course in New York in March 2007. The original presentation is available as a Webcast at http://www.iasusa.org.
Increased coronary atherosclerosis and immune activation in HIV-1 elite controllers.
AIDS. 2012 Nov 28;26(18):2409-12.
Pereyra F1, Lo J, Triant VA, Wei J, Buzon MJ, Fitch KV, Hwang J, Campbell JH, Burdo TH, Williams KC, Abbara S, Grinspoon SK.
Author information
1Program in Nutritional Metabolism, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.
Abstract
HIV-1 elite controllers spontaneously maintain suppressed levels of viremia, but exhibit significant immune activation.
We investigated coronary atherosclerosis by coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) in elite controllers, nonelite controller, chronically HIV-1 infected, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-treated patients with undetectable viral load (‘chronic HIV’), and HIV-negative controls.
Prevalence of atherosclerosis (78 vs. 42%, P < 0.05) and markers of immune activation were increased in elite controllers compared with HIV-negative controls. sCD163, a monocyte activation marker, was increased in elite controllers compared with chronic HIV-1 (P < 0.05) and compared with HIV-negative controls (P < 0.05).
These data suggest a significant degree of coronary atherosclerosis and monocyte activation among elite controllers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3660105/pdf/nihms-471827.pdf
InfectoNews - Jorge Omar Calabrese 