Transient colonization by vancomycin-resistant enterococci of animal origin has been documented in the intestines of humans. However, little is known about whether transfer of the vanA gene occurs in the human intestine. Six volunteers ingested a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolate of chicken origin, together with a vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium recipient of human origin. Tran...

Quantitative estimates of endothelial cell adhesion molecule expression have revealed that some adhesion molecules [e.g., intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1)] are abundantly expressed in different vascular beds under normal conditions. The objective of this study was to determine whether the enteric microflora contribute to the constitutive expression of ICAM-1 and other endothelial cell...

New Zealand Journal of Ecology (1998) 22(2): 189-196 ©New Zealand Ecological Society limitation on the sustainability of pastoral land use in New Zealand and this issue has been heightened by recent resource management legislation (Blaschke et al., 1992). In contrast, there have been few investigations on the effects of forest removal on the New Zealand soil fauna (Yeates, 1991). Contraction in...

Enteropathogenic bacteria elicit mucosal innate and adaptive immune responses. We investigated whether gut epithelial cells played a role in triggering an adaptive immune response by recruiting dendritic cells (DCs). Immature DCs are selectively attracted by the CCL20 chemokine. The expression of the CCL20 gene in human intestinal epithelial cell lines was up-regulated by pathogenic bacteria, i...

The mortality of Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, based on the culturability of these bacteria, was assessed in non-carbonated mineral water, bottled in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) containing the indigenous flora, sterile mineral water bottled in PVC, sterile mineral water in glass containers, and sterile tap water in glass containers. There...

The present paper deals with the field observations recorded on the traditional indigenous therapeutic applications of the plants Butea monosperma (Lam.) seeds used by the inhabitants of the Sagar district, M.P. (India). Even today a number of plants of the local flora are used for curing various ailments and diseases. The information is given in a tabular form as scientific names of plants in ...