Moraxella osloensis Bacteremia, a Case Series and Review of the Literature

Antibiotic Sensitivity and Nasal Microbiome in Patients with Acute Bacterial Rhinosinusitis

OBJECTIVES

Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) is a common upper respiratory tract infection that is mostly of viral origin. However, little is known about the nasal microbiome profile at presentation and the changes caused by antibiotics in acute bacterial rhinosinusitis (ABRS).

METHODS

This was a prospective single-center study. Overall, 43 ARS patients were screened and were assessed with the symptom questionnaires, nasal endoscopy, and Water's view. Five healthy subjects were recruited as controls. Middle meatal mucus samples were obtained using a cotton swab (for bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing) and the suction technique (for 16S rRNA sequencing). After 1 week of antibiotic use (amoxicillin with clavulanic acid), we enrolled 13 patients with ABRS with positive isolates and middle meatal samples for 16S rRNA sequencing were obtained again.

RESULTS

Overall, we demonstrated a significantly lower abundance of the Lactobacillaceae family in ABRS patients than in healthy controls. Resistant ABRS had different characteristics of middle meatal microbiomes when compared to sensitive ABRS as follows: (1) lower proportion of lactic acid bacteria, (2) increased pathogens such as Rhodococcus sp., Massila sp., Acinetobacter sp., and H. influenza, and (3) increased beta diversity. However, no remarkable changes were observed in the middle meatal microbiome after antibiotic use.

CONCLUSION

We showed the roles of Lactobacillaceae in ABRS, and Acinetobacter and Massilia in case of amoxicillin resistance.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

3 Laryngoscope, 134:1081-1088, 2024.

Occurrence of metals, phthalate esters, and perfluoroalkyl substances in cellar water and their relationship with bacterial community in rural areas of China

Water cellars are traditional rainwater harvesting facilities that have been widely used in rural areas of northwest China. However, there are few reports about the water quality and health risk caused by the cellar water, especially phthalate esters (PAEs) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). This study investigated and assessed the health risks caused by the metals, PAEs, PFASs and bacterial communities in cellar water. The results showed that the turbidity and total number of bacterial colonies ranged from 4.7 to 58.5 NTU and 5-557 CFU/mL, respectively. The turbidity and total number of bacterial colonies were the main water quality problems. Due to high concentration of Tl (0.005-0.171 μg/L), the samples reached a high level of metal pollution. PAEs showed no non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk. The perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were the main components of PFASs. PFOA and PFOS reached a moderate risk level in many cellar water samples. Moreover, Tl, Pb, As, PFBA and PFBS could change the bacterial community composition and induce the enrichment of bacterial functions related to human diseases. Besides these parameters, dissolved oxygen (DO) also affected the bacterial functions related to human diseases. Therefore, more attention should be paid to turbidity, DO, Tl, Pb, As, PFOA, PFOS, PFBA and PFBS in the cellar water. These results are meaningful for the water quality guarantee and health protection in rural areas of China.

Profiling of Microbial Landscape in Lung of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients Using RNA Sequencing

Purpose

The aim of the study was to use RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data of lung from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients to identify the bacteria that are most commonly detected. Additionally, the study sought to investigate the differences in these infections between normal lung tissues and those affected by COPD.

Patients and Methods

We re-analyzed RNA-seq data of lung from 99 COPD patients and 93 non-COPD smokers to determine the extent to which the metagenomes differed between the two groups and to assess the reliability of the metagenomes. We used unmapped reads in the RNA-seq data that were not aligned to the human reference genome to identify more common infections in COPD patients.

Results

We identified 18 bacteria that exhibited significant differences between the COPD and non-COPD smoker groups. Among these, Yersinia enterocolitica was found to be more than 30% more abundant in COPD. Additionally, we observed difference in detection rate based on smoking history. To ensure the accuracy of our findings and distinguish them from false positives, we double-check the metagenomic profile using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). We were able to identify and remove specific species that might have been misclassified as other species in Kraken2 but were actually Staphylococcus aureus, as identified by BLAST analysis.

Conclusion

This study highlighted the method of using unmapped reads, which were not typically used in sequencing data, to identify microorganisms present in patients with lung diseases such as COPD. This method expanded our understanding of the microbial landscape in COPD and provided insights into the potential role of microorganisms in disease development and progression.

Detection of multidrug resistant pathogenic bacteria and novel complex class 1 integrons in campus atmospheric particulate matters

Recent advances provided overwhelming evidence that atmospheric particulate matters carry a substantial amount of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). It has also been documented that polluted air facilitates transmission of bacterial pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These investigations generally used culture-independent approaches which reveal sophisticated microbiomic and resistomic compositions in particulate matters, while culture-dependent methods directly demonstrating presence of live, functional bacteria has not been fully applied. In recent years, efforts undertaken worldwide managed to reduce air particulate matter pollution, leading to cleaner air in many parts of world, including China. Whether atmospheric particulate matters may still function as vehicles for pathogenic bacteria and AMR in improving air conditions is turning into an interesting question to address. In attempt to answer this question, a culture-dependent approach is used to find out the putative role of atmospheric particulate matters in relatively 'clean' air to transmit pathogenic bacteria and AMR in this work. By harvesting particulate matters in an unindustrialized and less-polluted university campus, culturing and identifying bacteria in particulate matters, and characterizing pathogenesis and AMR properties of these bacteria, interesting findings were made that even in relatively 'clean' air, antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria are prevalent; and that mobile genetic elements including integrons are widespread. In particular, in air samples collected, multidrug-resistant hemolytic Bacillus strains that may pose significant health threat could be identified. Complex class 1 integrons, two of which carry novel antibiotic resistant gene cassette arrays, were also found for the first time in airborne bacteria, suggesting the danger of horizontal transfer of AMR in air. In conclusion, using culture-dependent methods, this work shows that atmospheric particulate matters are viable vehicles for the transmission of bacterial pathogenesis and AMR, and that even in relatively 'clean' air, the threat of airborne antibiotic-resistant pathogens is significant.

Multi-Drug Resistance to Salmonella spp. When Isolated from Raw Meat Products

Salmonella spp. is the most frequent cause of foodborne diseases, and the increasing occurrence of MDR strains is an additional and increasing problem. We collected Salmonella spp. strains isolated from meat (poultry and pork) and analysed their antibiotic susceptibility profiles and the occurrence of resistance genes. To determine the susceptibility profiles and identify MDR strains, we used two MIC methods (MICRONAUT and VITEC2 Compact) and 25 antibiotics. Phenotypic tests showed that 53.84% strains were MDR. Finally, molecular analysis strains revealed the presence of blaSHV, blaPSE-1, blaTEM, but not blaCTX-M genes. Moreover, several genes were associated with resistance to aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, fluorochinolones, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines. This suggests that further research on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in foodborne strains is needed, especially from a One Health perspective.