INTRODUCTION Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become as a nosocomial pathogen worldwide. Considering the importance of MRSA typing for understanding the evolution and dissemination of these strains, we studied the molecular characteristics of MRSA colonized healthcare workers (HCWs). METHODOLOGY All MRSA isolated from HCWs, were genotyped using staphylococcal cassette ch...

The impact of the 24-h ultramarathon race on homocysteine (Hcy) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) levels, two well-recognized cardiovascular risk factors, has not been deeply investigated. Similarly, no information exists on paraoxonase 1 (PON1), an antioxidant enzyme associated with high-density lipoproteins, which may detoxify oxLDL and Hcy-thiolactone, hence preventing their proat...

In order to test whether rooks (Corvus frugilegus) represent good indicators for the potential circulation of antibiotics in their native habitat, two populations with different migratory behavior were tested for the presence of beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In all, 54 and 102 samples of fresh feces of a migratory and a resid...

Genetic characteristics were analysed for recent clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant and -susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MSSA respectively) in Kathmandu, Nepal. MRSA isolates harbouring Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes were classified into ST1, ST22 and ST88 with SCCmec-IV and ST772 with SCCmec-V (Bengal Bay clone), while PVL-positive MSSA into ST22, ST30 and ST772. S...

We define the epidemiology of predominant and sporadic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in a central teaching and referral hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is done on the basis of spa sequencing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, and virulence gene profiling. During the period of study, the MRSA prevalenc...

BACKGROUND Two meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones, sequence type (ST) 22 and ST239, have successfully spread globally. Across Australia, ST22 has supplanted ST239 as the main healthcare-associated MRSA. To understand the reasons underlying this shift, the epidemiology and clinical features of infections due to ST22 and ST239 MRSA isolates from a tertiary hospital in Melbou...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family includes a variety of sublineages. Knowledge of the distribution of a certain sublineage of the Beijing family may help to understand the mechanisms of its rapid spread and to establish an association between a certain genotype and the disease outcome. We have previously found that M. tuberculosis Beijing family clinical isolates represent approximately...

Nursing home residents are a population at risk for carrying meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). To better guide infection control and healthcare network initiatives, we investigated the point prevalence and molecular epidemiology of MRSA colonisation among nursing home residents in Brunswick, northern Germany. Among the 32 participating nursing homes of the available 34 in the r...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Homocysteine (Hcy)-thiolactone mediates protein N-homocysteinylation in humans. Protein N-linked Hcy comprises a major pool of Hcy in human blood, greater that the "total" Hcy pool. N-homocysteinylated proteins are structurally different, compared with native proteins, and are thus likely to be recognized as neoself antigens and induce an autoimmune response. This study w...

Background: Rise in serum homocysteine level may be associated with higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in hypothyroidism. Levothyroxine can partly diminish serum homocysteine level. Folic acid participates in homocysteine metabolic cycle in the human body. The effect of concomitant administration of folic acid and levothyroxine on serum homocysteine level was evaluated in the present ...