Bacteria remain an important cause of infection in bone marrow transplants. To examine shifts in the etiology and susceptibility of bacterial isolates from transplants, we reviewed the incidence and susceptibility of blood isolates during a 7-year period. The infection rate fell dramatically during this time. Gram-positive organisms were isolated more often than gram-negative organisms, but the...

Macrophages as immune cells prevent the spreading of pathogens by means of active phagocytosis and killing. We report here the presence of an antimicrobial protein, bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) in human macrophages, which actively participates in engulfment and killing of Gram-negative pathogens. Our studies revealed increased expression of BPI in human macrophages during ...

Bacterial surface proteins are key players in host-symbiont or host-pathogen interactions. How these proteins are targeted and displayed at the cell surface are challenging issues of both fundamental and clinical relevance. While surface proteins of Gram-negative bacteria are assembled in the outer membrane, Gram-positive bacteria predominantly utilize their thick cell wall as a platform to anc...

From year to year, it is important to get an overview of the occurrence of causative agents in febrile neutropenic patients to determine the empiric treatment. Thus our aims were to evaluate a four-year period regarding the prevalence of bloodstream infections and the most important causative agents. During this period, 1,361 patients were treated in our hematology ward because of various hemat...

The antimicrobial activity of essential oils of oregano, thyme, basil, marjoram, lemongrass, ginger, and clove was investigated in vitro by agar dilution method and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes) and Gram-negative strains (Escherichia coli and Salmonella Enteritidis). MIC(90%) values were tested again...

Resistance rates are increasing among several problematic Gram-negative pathogens that are often responsible for serious nosocomial infections, including Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and (because of their production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase) Enterobacteriaceae. The presence of multiresistant strains of these organisms has been associated with prolonged hospital stays, ...

Lemierre's syndrome (LS) is an uncommon condition with oropharyngeal infections, internal jugular vein thrombosis, and systemic metastatic septic embolization as the main features. Fusobacterium species, a group of strictly anaerobic Gram negative rod shaped bacteria, are advocated to be the main pathogen involved. We report a case of LS complicated by pulmonary embolism and pulmonary septic em...

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is an important pathogen recognition receptor that recognizes mainly lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria, but also structures from fungal and mycobacterial pathogens, as well as endogenous ligands. Two nonsynonymous polymorphisms of TLR4, Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile, have been suggested to alter the function of the receptor. Some, but not all, studies have...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Rhabdomyolysis is often associated with sepsis and gram positive bacterial pathogens are reported to be the most frequent cause of sepsis induced rhabdomyolysis. We report the pattern of infecting bacterial pathogens and associated causal factors in a South-Indian cohort. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS #ENTITYSTARTX00026; MEASUREMENTS Retrospective cohort study of adu...