Articles

Positive selection on a bacterial oncoprotein associated with gastric cancer

Helicobacter pylori is a vertically inherited gut commensal that is carcinogenic if it possesses the cag pathogenicity island (cag PaI); infection with H.pylori is the major risk factor for gastric cancer, the se...

Authors: Gisela Delgado-Rosado, Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello and Steven E Massey

No evidence of the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain or enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) found in cattle faeces in northern Germany, the hotspot of the 2011 HUS outbreak area

Ruminants, in particular bovines, are the primary reservoir of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), but whole genome analyses of the current German ESBL-producing O104:H4 outbreak strain of sequence type (ST) 67...

Authors: Lothar H Wieler, Torsten Semmler, Inga Eichhorn, Esther M Antao, Bianca Kinnemann, Lutz Geue, Helge Karch, Sebastian Guenther and Astrid Bethe

Bacillus Coagulans GBI-30 (BC30) improves indices of Clostridium difficile-Induced colitis in mice

Probiotics have beneficial effects in rodent models of Clostridium difficile (C. diffiicle)-induced colitis. The spore forming probiotic strain Bacillus Coagulans GBI-30, 6086 (BC30) has demonstrated anti-inflamm...

Authors: Leo R Fitzpatrick, Jeffrey S Small, Wallace H Greene, Kelly D Karpa and David Keller

Comparative analyses of Campylobacter concisus strains reveal the genome of the reference strain BAA-1457 is not representative of the species

Several studies have shown that significant genotypic heterogeneity exists among Campylobacter concisus strains. Recently, the genome of C. concisus UNSWCD, isolated from a patient with Crohn's disease, was seque...

Authors: Nadeem O Kaakoush, Nandan P Deshpande, Marc R Wilkins, Mark J Raftery, Karolina Janitz and Hazel Mitchell

Non-therapeutic administration of a model antimicrobial growth promoter modulates intestinal immune responses

The development of efficacious alternatives to antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP) in livestock production is an urgent issue, but is hampered by a lack of knowledge regarding the mode of action of AGP. The b...

Authors: Estela Costa, Richard RE Uwiera, John P Kastelic, L Brent Selinger and G Douglas Inglis

HtrA chaperone activity contributes to host cell binding in Campylobacter jejuni

Acute gastroenteritis caused by the food-borne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni is associated with attachment of bacteria to the intestinal epithelium and subsequent invasion of epithelial cells. In C. jejuni, the p...

Authors: Kristoffer T Bæk, Christina S Vegge and Lone Brøndsted

Prevalence of aac(6')-Ib-cr plasmid-mediated and chromosome-encoded fluoroquinolone resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in Italy

The spread of aac(6')-Ib-cr plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants was evaluated in 197 enterobacterial isolates recovered in an Italian teaching hospital. The aac(6')-Ib-cr gene was found exclusively...

Authors: Ilaria Frasson, Antonietta Cavallaro, Cristina Bergo, Sara N Richter and Giorgio Palù

Distribution of flagella secreted protein and integral membrane protein among Campylobacter jejuni isolated from Thailand

Campylobacter jejuni, a gram-negative bacterium, is a frequent cause of gastrointestinal food-borne illness in humans throughout the world. There are several reports that the virulence of C. jejuni might be modul...

Authors: Piyarat Pootong, Oralak Serichantalergs, Ladaporn Bodhidatta, Frédéric Poly, Patricia Guerry and Carl J Mason

Bacteriophage-encoded shiga toxin gene in atypical bacterial host

Contamination from fecal bacteria in recreational waters is a major health concern since bacteria capable of causing human disease can be found in animal feces. The Dog Beach area of Ocean Beach in San Diego, ...

Authors: Veronica Casas, Gerico Sobrepeña, Beltran Rodriguez-Mueller, Justine AhTye and Stanley R Maloy

Molecular basis of virulence in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Salmonella species from a tertiary hospital in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Apart from localized gastrointestinal infections, Escherichia coli and Salmonella species are major causes of systemic disease in both humans and animals. Salmonella spp. cause invasive infections such as enteric...

Authors: Mary A Bisi-Johnson, Chikwelu L Obi, Sandeep D Vasaikar, Kamaldeen A Baba and Toshio Hattori

Intestinal microflora and body mass index during the first three years of life: an observational study

Recent research on obesity has demonstrated that the intestinal microflora can have an important influence on host energy balance. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the intestina...

Authors: Carl Vael, Stijn L Verhulst, Vera Nelen, Herman Goossens and Kristine N Desager

Metagenome of the gut of a malnourished child

Malnutrition, a major health problem, affects a significant proportion of preschool children in developing countries. The devastating consequences of malnutrition include diarrhoea, malabsorption, increased in...

Authors: Sourav Sen Gupta, Monzoorul Haque Mohammed, Tarini Shankar Ghosh, Suman Kanungo, Gopinath Balakrish Nair and Sharmila S Mande

Real-time PCR analysis of enteric pathogens from fecal samples of irritable bowel syndrome subjects

Growing amount of scientific evidence suggests that microbes are involved in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The predominant fecal microbiota composition of IBS subjects has been widely ...

Authors: Teemu Rinttilä, Anna Lyra, Lotta Krogius-Kurikka and Airi Palva

PCR-based genotyping of Helicobacter pylori of Gambian children and adults directly from biopsy specimens and bacterial cultures

Helicobacter pylori is an important agent of gastroduodenal disease in Africa and throughout the world. We sought to determine an optimum method for genotyping H. pylori strains from children and adults in The Ga...

Authors: Ousman Secka, Martin Antonio, Mary Tapgun, Douglas E Berg, Christian Bottomley, Vivat Thomas, Robert Walton, Tumani Corrah, Richard A Adegbola and Julian E Thomas

IS3 profiling identifies the enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O-island 62 in a distinct enteroaggregative E. coli lineage

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) are important diarrhoeal pathogens that are defined by a HEp-2 adherence assay performed in specialist laboratories. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has revealed that a...

Authors: Iruka N Okeke, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Jonathan N Fletcher and Anna M Snelling

Helicobacter pylori phagosome maturation in primary human macrophages

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a micro-aerophilic, spiral-shaped, motile bacterium that is the principal cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers in humans and is a major risk factor for the development of gastri...

Authors: Glenn N Borlace, Hilary F Jones, Stacey J Keep, Ross N Butler and Doug A Brooks

Treating critically ill patients with probiotics: Beneficial or dangerous?

Probiotic bacteria are live microorganisms which confer to health benefits of the host. They help to maintain the integrity of the intestinal barrier function by modulating the mucosal and systemic immune resp...

Authors: Christoph A Jacobi, Christian Schulz and Peter Malfertheiner

Acne vulgaris, probiotics and the gut-brain-skin axis - back to the future?

Over 70 years have passed since dermatologists John H. Stokes and Donald M. Pillsbury first proposed a gastrointestinal mechanism for the overlap between depression, anxiety and skin conditions such as acne. S...

Authors: Whitney P Bowe and Alan C Logan

Replicative genomics can help Helicobacter fraternity usher in good times

Authors: Niyaz Ahmed

Epigenome targeting by probiotic metabolites

The intestinal microbiota plays an important role in immune development and homeostasis. A disturbed microbiota during early infancy is associated with an increased risk of developing inflammatory and allergic...

Authors: Paul V Licciardi, Sook-San Wong, Mimi LK Tang and Tom C Karagiannis

Stress-induced survival strategies enable Salmonella Enteritidis to persistently colonize the chicken oviduct tissue and cope with antimicrobial factors in egg white: A hypothesis to explain a pandemic

Egg-associated transmission to humans seems to be characteristic of the Salmonella serotype Enteritidis, explaining why this particular serotype has caused a worldwide pandemic since the mid '80s. Salmonella Ente...

Authors: Filip Van Immerseel

Campylobacter jejuni isolates in Finnish patients differ according to the origin of infection

Campylobacter jejuni is a significant cause of bacterial enteritis worldwide. Very little is known about the pathogenicity mechanisms and virulence factors of this important enteropathogen. C. jejuni isolates fro...

Authors: Benjamin Feodoroff, Patrik Ellström, Heidi Hyytiäinen, Seppo Sarna, Marja-Liisa Hänninen and Hilpi Rautelin

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease: is Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis the common villain?

Mycobacterium avium, subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes a chronic disease of the intestines in dairy cows and a wide range of other animals, including nonhuman primates, called Johne's ("Yo-knee's") disease...

Authors: Ellen S Pierce

Compatible solutes: the key to Listeria's success as a versatile gastrointestinal pathogen?

Recently we reported a role for compatible solute uptake in mediating bile tolerance and increased gastrointestinal persistence in the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes[1]. Herein, we review the evolution...

Authors: Roy D Sleator and Colin Hill

Luminal and mucosal-associated intestinal microbiota in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Recent studies have suggested a role for an altered intestinal microbiota in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, no consensus has been reached regarding the association between spec...

Authors: Ian M Carroll, Young-Hyo Chang, Jiwon Park, R Balfour Sartor and Yehuda Ringel

Antimicrobial resistance patterns and prevalence of class 1 and 2 integrons in Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei isolated in Uzbekistan

Shigella is a frequent cause of bacterial dysentery in the developing world. Treatment with effective antibiotics is recommended for shigellosis, but options become limited due to globally emerging resistance....

Authors: Ruslan S Madiyarov, Amir M Bektemirov, Gulnara A Ibadova, Gulnara K Abdukhalilova, Aybek V Khodiev, Ladaporn Bodhidatta, Orntipa Sethabutr and Carl J Mason

Epidemiology of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance in salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium isolates from food-producing animals in Japan

A total of 225 isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium from food-producing animals collected between 2003 and 2007 were examined for the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) dete...

Authors: Tetsuo Asai, Chizuru Sato, Kaori Masani, Masaru Usui, Manao Ozawa, Tomoe Ogino, Hiroshi Aoki, Takuo Sawada, Hidemasa Izumiya and Haruo Watanabe

Pseudomonas fluorescens alters epithelial permeability and translocates across Caco-2/TC7 intestinal cells

Pseudomonas fluorescens has long been considered as a psychrotrophic microorganism. Recently, we have shown that clinical strains of P. fluorescens (biovar 1) are able to adapt at a growth temperature of 37°C or ...

Authors: Amar Madi, Pascal Svinareff, Nicole Orange, Marc GJ Feuilloley and Nathalie Connil

PFGE, Lior serotype, and antimicrobial resistance patterns among Campylobacter jejuni isolated from travelers and US military personnel with acute diarrhea in Thailand, 1998-2003

Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of gastroenteritis worldwide. In Thailand, several strains of C. jejuni have been isolated and identified as major diarrheal pathogens among adult travelers. To study the epi...

Authors: Oralak Serichantalergs, Piyarat Pootong, Anders Dalsgaard, Ladaporn Bodhidatta, Patricia Guerry, David R Tribble, Sinn Anuras and Carl J Mason

Campylobacter jejuni induces transcytosis of commensal bacteria across the intestinal epithelium through M-like cells

Recent epidemiological analyses have implicated acute Campylobacter enteritis as a factor that may incite or exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in susceptible individuals. We have demonstrated previously...

Authors: Lisa D Kalischuk, Frances Leggett and G Douglas Inglis

Systematic review and meta-analysis: the relationship between the Helicobacter pylori dupA gene and clinical outcomes

In 2005, the first disease-specific Helicobacter pylori virulence factor that induced duodenal ulcer and had a suppressive action on gastric cancer has been identified, and was named duodenal ulcer promoting gene...

Authors: Seiji Shiota, Osamu Matsunari, Masahide Watada, Katsuhiro Hanada and Yoshio Yamaoka

Trend of Entamoeba histolytica infestation in Kolkata

Entamoeba histolytica infection is found almost all over the world and is highly endemic and a major cause of parasitic diarrhoea particularly in the developing countries.

Authors: Avik K Mukherjee, Kaushik Das, Mihir K Bhattacharya, Tomoyoshi Nozaki and Sandipan Ganguly

Isolation and detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) from cattle in Ireland using both traditional culture and molecular based methods

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causes a chronic gastroenteritis affecting many species. Johne's disease is one of the most widespread and economically important disease of ruminants. Since 1992...

Authors: Pierre E Douarre, William Cashman, Jim Buckley, Aidan Coffey and Jim M O'Mahony

Are probiotics a feasible intervention for prevention of diarrhoea in the developing world?

With more than 1.4 million of the 9 million child deaths being attributed to diarrhoea in 2008 and 49% of them occurring in five countries namely, India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and...

Authors: Neerja Hajela, Gopinath B Nair and Nirmal K Ganguly

Serum neopterin is elevated in patients infected with Shigella

Neopterin is produced by human macrophages/monocytes when stimulated with interferon-gamma. Production of neopterin is found in serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and urine of patients with infections by viruses...

Authors: Kirnpal-Kaur Banga Singh, WA Wan-Nurfahizul-Izzati and Asma Ismail

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Samonella, Shigella and Yersinia: cellular aspects of host-bacteria interactions in enteric diseases

A successful infection of the human intestine by enteropathogenic bacteria depends on the ability of bacteria to attach and colonize the intestinal epithelium and, in some cases, to invade the host cell, survi...

Authors: Roberta Souza dos Reis and Fabiana Horn

Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli: identification of non-O157:H7-Super-Shedding cows and related risk factors

Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are an important cause of human gastro-enteritis and extraintestinal sequelae, with ruminants, especially cattle, as the major source of infection and reservoir. In t...

Authors: Andrea Menrath, Lothar H Wieler, Katrin Heidemanns, Torsten Semmler, Angelika Fruth and Nicole Kemper

Genetic affinities of Helicobacter pylori isolates from ethnic Arabs in Kuwait

Helicobacter pylori is one of the most genetically diverse of bacterial species, and since the 5'-end of cagA gene and the middle allele of vacA gene of H. pylori from different populations exhibit considerable p...

Authors: M John Albert, Hanan M Al-Akbal, Rita Dhar, De Ronita and Asish K Mukhopadhyay

Probiotic therapy - recruiting old friends to fight new foes

Against a backdrop of increasing antibiotic resistance, and the emergence of new and evolving pathogens, clinicians are increasingly forced to consider alternative therapies - probiotics are one such alternative.

Authors: Roy D Sleator

Emerging trends in the etiology of enteric pathogens as evidenced from an active surveillance of hospitalized diarrhoeal patients in Kolkata, India

This study was conducted to determine the etiology of diarrhoea in a hospital setting in Kolkata. Active surveillance was conducted for 2 years on two random days per week by enrolling every fifth diarrhoeal p...

Authors: Gopinath Balakrish Nair, Thandavarayan Ramamurthy, Mihir Kumar Bhattacharya, Triveni Krishnan, Sandipan Ganguly, Dhira Rani Saha, Krishnan Rajendran, Byomkesh Manna, Mrinmoy Ghosh, Keinosuke Okamoto and Yoshifumi Takeda

Current insights in to the pathophysiology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) represents a functional disorder of gastrointestinal tract without the presence of an anatomic defect, in which abdominal pain is relieved with defecation and is associated with ...

Authors: Theodoros Karantanos, Theofano Markoutsaki, Maria Gazouli, Nicholas P Anagnou and Dimitrios G Karamanolis

Helicobacter pylori: a poor man's gut pathogen?

Helicobacter pylori is one of the human pathogens with highest prevalence around the world; yet, its principal mode of transmission remains largely unknown. The role of H. pylori in gastric disease and cancer has...

Authors: Mohammed Mahdy Khalifa, Radwa Raed Sharaf and Ramy Karam Aziz

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis as a trigger of type-1 diabetes: destination Sardinia, or beyond?

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease in which the insulin producing β cell population is destroyed by the infiltrated T lymphocytes. Even though the exact cause of T1DM is yet...

Authors: Pittu Sandhya Rani, Leonardo A Sechi and Niyaz Ahmed

A rhodanine agent active against non-replicating intracellular Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis

Antibiotic therapy targeting chronic mycobacterial disease is often ineffective due to problems with the emergence of drug resistance and non-replicating persistent intracellular antibiotic resistant phenotype...

Authors: Tim J Bull, Richard Linedale, Jason Hinds and John Hermon-Taylor

Helicobacter pylori - a seasoned pathogen by any other name

Helicobacter pylori is a well known inhabitant of human stomach which is linked to peptic ulcer disease and gastric adenocarcinoma. It was recently shown in several studies that H. pylori can be harnessed as a su...

Authors: Niyaz Ahmed, Shivendra Tenguria and Nishant Nandanwar

Penicillin-binding Proteins (PBP) and Lmo0441 (a PBP-like protein) play a role in Beta-lactam sensitivity of Listeria monocytogenes

While seven penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) or PBP-like proteins have been identified either by radiolabelled penicillin binding studies or genomic analysis, only PBP3 has been considered of interest for Be...

Authors: Sébastien Van de Velde, Stéphane Carryn, Françoise Van Bambeke, Colin Hill, Paul M Tulkens and Roy D Sleator

Adhesive threads of extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli

The ability to adhere to host surfaces is by far the most vital step in the successful colonization by microbial pathogens. Colonization begins with the attachment of the bacterium to receptors expressed by ce...

Authors: Esther-Maria Antão, Lothar H Wieler and Christa Ewers

A hundred-year-old insight into the gut microbiome!

As the National Institutes of Health-funded Human Microbiome Project enters its second phase, and as a major part of this project focuses on the human gut microbiome and its effects on human health, it might h...

Authors: Ramy Karam Aziz

Blood profile holds clues to role of infection in a premonitory state for idiopathic parkinsonism and of gastrointestinal infection in established disease

The two-stage neuroinflammatory process, containment and progression, proposed to underlie neurodegeneration may predicate on systemic inflammation arising from the gastrointestinal tract. Helicobacter infection ...

Authors: André Charlett, R John Dobbs, Sylvia M Dobbs, Clive Weller, Mohammad AA Ibrahim, Tracy Dew, Roy Sherwood, Norman L Oxlade, J Malcolm Plant, James Bowthorpe, Andrew J Lawson, Alan Curry, Dale W Peterson and Ingvar T Bjarnason

Probiotics and gastrointestinal disease: successes, problems and future prospects

Gastrointestinal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide each year. Treatment of chronic inflammatory gastrointestinal conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease is difficu...

Authors: Eamonn P Culligan, Colin Hill and Roy D Sleator