300 children considered to have had adverse reactions to penicillin were examined. Informed consent was obtained from the parents. Skin tests were conducted by the scratch/prick and intradermal techniques, using benzylpenicilloyl polylysine conjugate and a mixture of minor determinants of penicillin. Specific anti-penicillin IgE antibodies were estimated by the radioallergosorbent test. There w...

BACKGROUND The positive and negative predictive values of specific IgE to penicillins are not well established for penicillin hypersensitivity. One reason may be that serum IgE levels to penicillin diminish over time. The objective in this study was to investigate variations in serum half-life (T½) for specific IgE to penicillins (s-IgE) and to evaluate the outcome of penicillin challenges in p...

300 children considered to have had adverse reactions to penicillin were examined. Informed consent was obtained from the parents. Skin tests were conducted by the scratch/prick and intradermal techniques, using benzylpenicilloyl polylysine conjugate and a mixture of minor determinants of penicillin. Specific anti-penicillin IgE antibodies were estimated by the radioallergosorbent test. There w...

300 children considered to have had adverse reactions to penicillin were examined. Informed consent was obtained from the parents. Skin tests were conducted by the scratch/prick and intradermal techniques, using benzylpenicilloyl polylysine conjugate and a mixture of minor determinants of penicillin. Specific anti-penicillin IgE antibodies were estimated by the radioallergosorbent test. There w...

A previously unrecognized penicillin binding protein (PBP) gene, pbpF, was identified in Staphylococcus aureus. This gene encodes a protein of 691 amino acid residues with an estimated molecular mass of 78 kDa. The molecular mass is very close to that of S. aureus PBP2 (81 kDa), and the protein is tentatively named PBP2B. PBP2B has three motifs, SSVK, SSN, and KTG, that can be found in PBPs and...

Pneumococcal strains with greatly elevated levels of resistance to penicillin have by now been described with increasing frequency worldwide. The mechanism of antibiotic resistance in these strains involves the molecular remodeling of cell wall synthetic enzymes (penicillin binding proteins). We have now analyzed the peptidoglycan structures of 10 penicillin-susceptible and 10 penicillin-resist...

Mating experiments have shown that high-level resistance (minimal inhibitory concentration greater than 2,000 microgram/ml) to streptomycin and kanamycin, and resistance to penicillin-streptomycin and penicillin-kanamycin synergism are transferable by conjugation from resistant clinical isolates of enterococci to a sensitive recipient strain. Cesium chloride-ethidium bromide ultracentrifugation...

Piperacillin is a new semisynthetic, expanded-spectrum penicillin with marked activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The biliary excretion of piperacillin was studied in patients undergoing cholecystectomy. Concentrations of piperacillin in common duct bile at 35 to 90 min postinfusion of 1-g doses ranged from 31 to 920 micrograms/ml, with a mean (+/- standard deviation) of 467 +/- 363 microg...

The susceptibility of 135 Streptococcus suis strains isolated from pigs (n = 110) and from humans (n = 25) to 13 antimicrobial agents was studied by microdilution and disc diffusion methods using Mueller-Hinton Agar II (MH) supplemented with either defibrinated sheep blood (MHSB) or horse serum (MHHS). Results were similar for both methods used except for penicillin G whose zone diameters were ...