Utilizing cell preparations that contained greater than 90% eosinophils and sodium azide to inhibit the lysosomal enzyme peroxidase, studies of eosinophil bactericidal activity were undertaken. Eosinophils did not kill bacteria as well as neutrophils, principally because of a reduced phagocytic capacity. In contrast to neutrophils, eosinophils had high resting iodination activity but failed to ...

The ability of peripheral blood monocytes from patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease to phagocytose and kill a standard strain of Staphyloccus aureus has been studied. Using lysostaphin, a rapidly acting muralytic enzyme, phagocytosis could be accurately differentiated from intracellular killing. When compared with normal healthy individuals and patients with gastrointestinal dis...

Recently, Staphylococcus aureus strains with intermediate resistance to vancomycin, the antibiotic of last resort, have been described. Multiple changes in peptidoglycan turnover and structure contribute to the resistance phenotype. Here, we describe that structural changes of teichoic acids in the cell envelope have a considerable influence on the susceptibility to vancomycin and other glycope...

Strain D958, a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin, was isolated from a 69-year-old Saudi male patient presenting with severe sepsis immediately after admission. Despite high serum levels of vancomycin, the same S. aureus strain was isolated from five blood culture sets during 1 week. Treatment failure under therapeutic levels of vancomyc...

The treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a challenge worldwide. In our search for novel antimicrobial agents against MRSA, we constructed a chimeric lysin (named as ClyH) by fusing the catalytic domain of Ply187 (Pc) with the non-SH3b-like cell wall binding domain of phiNM3 lysin. Herein, the antimicrobial activity of ClyH against MRSA strains ...