Neisseria Research Articles

Emergence of Dual Resistance to Penicillin and Ciprofloxacin in

Although antimicrobial resistance has been uncommon among Neisseria meningitidis isolates, novel strains resistant to ciprofloxacin and penicillin have

Anions Bioremediation Potential of Immobilized Bacteria in Tannery Industrial Effluents from Kano State, Nigeria

The present study aims to assess the potentials of immobilized bacteria in the remediation of anions within the effluents by determining the levels of the anions before and after the remediation. Industrial Effluents Samples from Gashash Tanneries (TAN1), Larabee Tannery Industry (TAN2) and Z Tannery Industries (TAN3) in Kano State, Nigeria were collected monthly for six months (August 2017 to January 2018). Bacteria were isolated from the effluents and immobilized on agar-agar. The effluent samples were analyzed for the anions before and after the treatment using DR/2010 HACH portable data logging spectrophotometer. Different masses (5 g, 10 g, 15 g, 20 g, and 25 g) of the bacteria were used in the treatment of 250 ml of the effluents for ten days in a shaker incubator (Gallenkamp-OC-4364-L) at the temperature 30 °C and speed of 60 rpm. Pre-treatment analysis of the effluents for nitrate (NO-3), Sulphate (SO2-4), Phosphate (PO3-4) and Chloride (Cl-) give the following results; NO-3 ranged (25.35±17.16-28.12±10.72 mg/l); SO2-4 (67.00±5.93-114.83±53.20 mg/l); PO3-4 (26.16±22.93-34.17±16.73 mg/l) and Cl- (22.57±9.64-26.00a±4.86 mg/l). No statistical difference (p ≤ 0.05) was observed for all the anions among the different industries. The bacterial isolates were identified as Neisseria spp, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus, in TAN1, TAN2, and TAN3, respectively. After treatment of the effluents with the different masses of the isolated bacteria, the mean level of NO-3 were found to range as (6.17±6.67-20.78±7.76); SO2-4 (25.73±17.84-46.00±46.81); PO3-4 (11.45±12.02-28.19±9.09) and Cl-(0.38±1.83-15.36±13.58). The results of Post-treatment analysis showed that there is an overall decrease in the levels of the anions determined when compared with that of the pre-treatment. The overall percentage reduction of the immobilized bacteria in the treatment of the respective effluents was in the order TAN3 (57%)>TAN1 (49%)>TAN2 (47%). Therefore, the immobilized bacteria are having higher potentials for the treatment of the anions in the effluents.

Characterization of Neisseria meningitidis in Vietnam from 1980s–2019

Characterization of Neisseria meningitidis in Vietnam from 1980s–2019

Co-Infection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae on Adult Conjunctivitis: A Case Report

Co-Infection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae on Adult Conjunctivitis: A Case Report

Comparative phylogenetic analysis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae clinical isolates in Russia, European Union, and Japan

Мониторинг возбудителей инфекционных заболеваний, развивающих множественную устойчивость к антимикробным препаратам, является важной и актуальной задачей. Целью работы являлось генотипирование современных российских клинических изолятов N. gonorrhoeae по протоколу NG-MAST (Neisseria gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence types) и сравнительный филогенетический анализ возбудителя гонококковой инфекции в России, странах ЕС и Японии. Всего исследовано 822 изолята, собранных в РФ в период с 2013 по 2018 гг. Использовали также данные NG-MAST-типирования из баз данных «PathogenWatch» (страны ЕС, 1071 образец) и «PubMLST» (Япония, 206 образцов). Изоляты РФ принадлежали к 301 различному NG-MAST типу, наиболее распространенными являлись 807, 228, 1993, 5714, 9476 (8,3%; 3,3%; 3,2%; 3,2%; 2,7% соответственно). В РФ обнаружено только 3 изолята (0,4%) пандемически значимого NG-MAST 1407, характеризующегося множественными детерминантами резистентности к антимикробным препаратам и доминирующего во многих странах мира. Построено филогенетическое древо NG-MAST типов, найденных в России и в европейских странах. Кластерный анализ данных по доле изолятов с уникальными сиквенс-типами и численности населения показал существование двух кластеров (уровень значимости 0,01): первый составили Россия и Япония, второй — европейские страны. Показана тенденция в распределении уникальных сиквенс-типов — их доля тем выше, чем больше численность населения страны. Филогенетический анализ показал генетическую отдаленность наиболее распространенных российских, европейских и японских сиквенс-типов, что указывает на локальный характер формирования и эволюции российской популяции N. gonorrhoeae.

NMR assignment of self-processing module of FrpC protein of Neisseria meningitidis loaded with calcium ions

NMR assignment of self-processing module of FrpC protein of Neisseria meningitidis loaded with calcium ions

Azithromycin: An Alternative Chemoprophylaxis Drug for

People who have close contact to patients with invasive Neisseria meningitidis infections have an increased risk for infection within 2 weeks after

Analysis of difference in oral bacteria flora in saliva among elderly people in longevity zone of Guangxi

Objective To investigate the bacterial species, characteristics and differences of oral bacteria flora of saliva in the longevous elderly between in Bama county and in Debao county in Guangxi, in order to explore the relationship between longevity and oral salivary bacteria flora in the elderly. Methods The saliva was taken from the longevous elderly in Bama county(BM group)and people aged over 60 years in Debao county(BS group)separately, and the total DNA was extracted.The 16S rDNA-V4 region was amplified by PCR and analyzed by sequencing.The main species and diversity of bacterial colonies were recorded for difference analysis. Results A total of 14 saliva samples were collected from 7 cases in BM group and 7 cases in BS group.A total of 369 OTUs were generated by cluster analysis of 14 samples.At the genus level, the dominant salivary bacteria flora were Ctinomyces, Capnocytophaga, Chryseobacterium, Fusobacterium, Haemophilus, Lactobacillus, Leptotrichia, Neisseria, Porphyromonas, Prevotella, Rothia, Streptococcus, Veillonella in both BM group and BS group.The OTU PCA analysis showed that some evidence for indeterminate differences was found, but statistically significant differences did not exist in the dominant components of oral flora between the two groups(P>0.05). Also, the same tendency toward the diversity(P>0.05)was presented.Similarly, the species annotation analysis and the heat map showed that there were no significant differences(P>0.05)in oral salivary flora composition between the two groups.Lactobacillu was always the prevailing flora in the Phylume, Class, Order, Family and Genus, but the abundance ratio was different between the two groups as following: Lactobacillus abundance in salivary bacteria flora was higher in BM Group than in the BS group, while Mycoplasma abundance was lower in BM Group than in the BS group(P<0.05). Conclusions The dominant salivary bacteria flora is Lactobacillus in both BM and BS group, while, the abundance of Lactobacillus is higher in the BM group than in the BS group, which indicates that the longevity of population in Bama county may be related to Lactobacillus. Key words: Longevity; Saliva; DNA, bacterial

Disseminated Gonococcal Infection: A Case Report of Arthritis-Dermatitis Syndrome

The bacteremic spread of the sexually transmitted pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae ( N. gonorrhoeae ), results in disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI), which can lead to a variety of clinical signs and symptoms, such as multiple skin lesions, tenosynovitis and arthralgias/arthritis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed that drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae (cephalosporin resistance) poses an urgent threat due to antimicrobial resistance. The authors describe the case of a young woman presenting in the emergency department (ED) with skin lesions and malaise. DGI was confirmed by blood cultures, nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) in cervical mucosa and urine gonococcal probe. One week of intravenous ceftriaxone was administrated with complete clinical and analytical resolution. The patient made a full clinical recovery. Clinicians must be aware of the signs and symptoms of this rare yet reemerging disease. J Med Cases. 2019;10(10):312-314 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc3381

Status of anxiety and depression in male patients with gonococcal infection in paraurethral ducts before and after paraurethral duct dilatation

Objective To verify the change of the anxiety and depression of patients anterior-posterior treatment at paraurethral duct dilitation after gonococcal infection of paraurethral duct. Methods Twenty-eight patients of paraurethral duct dilatation after male gonococcal infection of paraurethral duct were enrolled, and the patients were treated in the Department of Dermatology and Venerology, the First People＇s Hospital of Changshu City. The anxiety and depression of patients anterior-posterior treatment were assessed and compared with Hamilton depression scale and Hamilton anxiety scale. Results The total scores of Hamilton depression scale and Hamilton anxiety scale before treatment were positively correlated with course of disease (r=0.481, P=0.0095; r=0.549, P=0.0025). The total scores of Hamilton depression and anxiety before treatment were from 1 to 31 (18.9±7.5) and from 4 to 30 (14.9±6.8). The symptoms of depression and anxiety appeared in 11 patients and 15 patients respectively. The total scores of Hamilton depression andanxiety after treatment were from 0 to 8 (4.3±1.7) and from 0 to 8 (3.3±1.7). There was no symptom of depression and anxiety. The difference of the total score of Hamilton depression and anxiety before and after treatment had statistical significance (t=12.270, P<0.001, t=10.626, P<0.001). The difference of positive rate of depressive and anxious symptom before and after treatment had statistical significance too (χ2=9.05, P=0.003; χ2=13.06, P=0.000). Conclusions The sequelae of gonococcal paraurethral duct infection in male paraurethral duct dilatation can result in the anxiety and depression of patients, which should be treated. Effective therapy can relieve or cure the anxiety and depression of patients without the assistance of psychotropic drugs. Key words: Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Infection; Men; Paraurethral duct dilitation; Anxiety; Depression; Hamilton

Molecular epidemiological characteristics of genital Chlamydia trachomatis

Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is the causative agent of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) worldwide. The incidence of Ct infection has exceeded that of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and becomes the highest in STDs in many countries. Ct infection can lead to urethritis, epididymitis, prostatitis and infertility in males, and cervicitis, endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility in females, and neonatal conjunctivitis. Additionally, urogenital Ct infection is always ignored due to its concealed symptoms, leading to a long clinical course, recurrence or repeated infections. Furthermore, Ct infection can increase the risk of human immunodeficiency virus and human papilloma virus infections. Therefore, how to prevent and control the transmission of Ct has become one of the global public health issues. Currently, a growing body of researches have focused on the molecular epidemiological characteristics of Ct, which are aiming to identify the mutant strains, elaborate transmission dynamics, investigate the distribution of Ct serotypes in different populations, so as to provide molecular epidemiological evidence for the prevention and control of Ct infection. This review summarizes the epidemic status and research methods for molecular epidemiological characteristics of Ct, as well as application of Ct serotyping in clinical practice, providing references for the prevention, control and research of Ct infection. Key words: Chlamydia trachomatis; Chlamydia infections; Molecular epidemiology; Genotyping techniques; Multilocus sequence typing

Mowat Wilson Syndrome Presenting as Purpura Fulminans in a Healthy Infant

Introduction: Purpura fulminans is a rapidly progressive syndrome of intravascular thrombosis and hemorrhagic infarction of the skin associated with vascular collapse. It is most commonly a complication of Neisseria meningitidis sepsis, and less frequently attributable to Streptococcus pneumoniae. The most common predisposing factor for invasive pneumococcal infection is splenic dysfunction. Case Report: A 10-month old girl with history of gross motor developmental delay presented to an outside hospital with one day of rhinorrhea, tactile fever, drowsiness and poor feeding. She was hypotensive and tachycardic, and had a generalized tonic-clonic seizure and petechial rash that quickly progressed to purpuric. CSF …

For Gonorrhea, Gentamicin Was Less Effective Than Ceftriaxone

Rapid development of antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae hampers effective control efforts (the current recommended therapy is a single 500-mg

Tetracycline-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains isolated in a Grade III hospital in eastern China: molecular characteristics and genetic diversity

Objective To analyze the genotypes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N.gonorrhoeae) epidemic strains in Wenzhou, eastern China, and to study the mechanism of tetracycline resistance in these strains. Methods A total of 77 N. gonorrhoeae strains were isolated from patients with gonorrhea. Antimicrobial susceptibility of these strains to penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, spectinomycin, ceftriaxone and azithromycin was analyzed using E-test. PCR and DNA sequencing were used to detect the genes associated with tetracycline resistance, such as Tet-M, mtrR promoter region and mtrR coding region. N. gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence typing (NG-MAST) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were used to determine the molecular characteristics of all clinical isolates and tetracycline-resistant isolates, respectively. Results Among the 77 N. gonorrhoeae isolates, 74 (96.10%), 27 (35.06%) , 70 (90.91%) and 15 (19.48%) were resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin and azithromycin, respectively. All tested isolates were susceptible to spectinomycin and ceftriaxone. Nineteen isolates were resistant to tetracycline and all of them carried Tet-M gene. Among them, 17 had one deletion mutation of base A in mtrR promoter region and three had G45D mutation in mtrR coding region. NG-MAST classified the 19 tetracycline-resistant isolates into 11 different sequence types (ST). ST14781, ST1766 and ST1866 each accounted for 15.79% (three strains). Two ST (10.52%, 2/19) found in the present study had not been reported previously in the NG-MAST database. MLST showed the 19 tetracycline-resistant isolates belonged to 12 different STs, in which ST10899 accounted for 26.32% (five strains) and ST1600 accounted for 15.79% (three strains). Conclusions Mutations in mtrR promoter region and carrying Tet-M gene were associated with tetracycline resistance in N. gonorrhoeae. Clinical strains isolated in Wenzhou showed considerable molecular diversity. Measures should be implemented to monitor the spread of NG-MAST ST1766 and MLST ST1600 N. gonorrhoeae clones with high resistance to tetracycline in Wenzhou. Key words: Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Resistance rate; Tetracycline; NG-MAST; MLST

A New Oral Antibiotic for the Treatment of Gonorrhea

The increasing prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae has led to changes in treatment guidelines. Currently ceftriaxone, an

Repositioning of 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives as a new promising candidate for combating multidrug resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

The multidrug resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae becomes a public health problem worldwide, especially the strain H041 that showed the decrease susceptibility to ceftriaxone which is the last resort for gonorrhea treatment. Therefore, the simultaneous discovery and development of a new compound to fight this pathogen is urgently required. In this study, 8-hydroxyquinoline (8HQ) and derivatives were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities against the gonococcal pathogen using spectinomycin as the reference drug. The results showed that 8HQ derivatives gave an excellent antimicrobial potency. Particularly, the dihalogenated 8HQ (iodoquinol, clioquinol and 5,7-diCl-8HQ) exerted the high activity with MIC range of 0.08-0.15 μM, 0.10-0.20 μM and 0.28-0.56 µM, respectively, compared with the reference drug (MIC = 16 μg/mL or 48.14 μM). Moreover, these compounds were also shown to be non-cytotoxic/very high safety index. The findings reveal that these three compounds could be further developed as a new antimicrobial agent for fighting the gonorrheal disease.

Roles of penA and mtrR gene mutations in in vitro-induced resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to ceftriaxone

Objective To investigate the roles of penA and mtrR gene mutations in resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to ceftriaxone. Methods Standard strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (ATCC-49226) , clinical strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with high sensitivity to ceftriaxone (2012-4052 and 2012-15361) and clinical strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with reduced sensitivity to ceftriaxone (2012-5616) were treated with ceftriaxone at subinhibitory concentration (50% MIC) , so as to induce the resistance to ceftriaxone. DNA was extracted from the primary strains before the treatment and daughter strains resistant to ceftriaxone after the treatment, followed by the amplification and DNA sequencing of the penA and mtrR genes. Results For strains 2012-5616 and ATCC-49226, ceftriaxone-resistant strains with MIC ≥ 1 mg/L were obtained after 26 and 28 passages, respectively. For strains 2012-4052 and 2012-15361, ceftriaxone-resistant strains with MIC ≥ 0.5 mg/L were obtained after 22 and 36 passages, respectively. Sequence analysis of the penA gene revealed that A501T and G542S mutations were identified in the induced resistant ATCC-49226 strains, but no new mutations were observed in the other 3 strains. All the 4 mutant strains showed penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP2) of gene sequence typeⅩⅧ, and no mosaic structure of the penA gene was found in the strains. Sequence analysis of the mtrR gene showed that the A39T mutation was found in the 2012-5616 and ATCC-49226 strains before and after the induction, as well as in the coding region of the mtrR gene in the induced resistant 2012-4052 strains. Conclusion The A501T and G542S mutations in the penA gene and A39T mutation in the mtrR gene may play a role in the resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to ceftriaxone. Key words: Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Ceftriaxone; Beta-lactam resistance; penA gene; mtrR gene

Surveillance on antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in China: present status, strategies and prospects

Surveillance on antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in China: present status, strategies and prospects

Diagnosis and treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma infections in female genital tract

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma are common in female genital tract infections, which are associated with urethritis, cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, infertility, chronic pelvic pain and perinatal infections. They can cause the infectious diseases asymptomatically, which would be easily neglected. Nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) can provide an accurate diagnosis for these diseases, and qualified laboratories should be suggested to develop the project. Appropriate sensitive antibiotics and sex partners participation are essential for treatment. Noticeably, asymptomatic carrier should be differentiated during the treatment of Mycoplasma infections. It should increase awareness of these infectious diseases, in order to reduce the harm caused by misdiagnosis.(Chin J Lab Med, 2018, 41: 263-266) Key words: Genital diseases, female; Gonorrhea; Chlamydia infections; Mycoplasma infections

Scaling-up fermentation of Escherichia coli for production of recombinant P64k protein from Neisseria meningitidis

Background: P64k is a Neisseria meningitidis high molecular weight protein present in meningococcal vaccine preparations. The lpdA gene, which encodes for this protein, was cloned in Escherichia coli and the P64k recombinant protein was expressed in E. coli K12 GC366 cells under the control of a tryptophan promoter. P64k was expressed as an intracellular soluble protein about 28% of the total cellular protein. Several scale-up criteria of fermentation processes were studied to obtain the recombinant P64k protein at the pilot production scale. Results: The best operational conditions at a larger scale production of P64k recombinant protein were studied and compared using the four following criteria: Constant Reynold's number (Re constant), Constant impeller tip speed (n di constant), Constant power consumption per unit liquid volume (P/V constant) and Constant volumetric oxygen transfer coefficients (KLa/k constant). The highest production of the recombinant protein was achieved based on the constant KLa/k scale-up fermentation criterion, calculating the aeration rate (Q) and the impeller agitation speed (n) by iterative process, keeping constant the KLa/k value from bench scale. The P64k protein total production at the 50 l culture scale was 546 mg l-1 in comparison with the 284 mg l-1 obtained at 1.5 l bench scale. Conclusions: The methodology described herein, for the KLa/k scale-up fermentation criterion, allowed us to obtain the P64k protein at 50 l scale. A fermentation process for the production of P64k protein from N. meningitidis was established, a protein to be used in future vaccine formulations in humans.