Sphingomonas paucimobilis-related bone and soft-tissue infections: A systematic review

Evaluation of the safety and quality of Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) using the tools of dna sequencing technology and aflatoxin profile

Introduction

Brazil nuts (BNs) result from sustainable extraction and are widely exploited in the Amazon region. Due to the production characteristics in the forest and the nutritional characteristics of these nuts, the occurrence of fungal contamination and the presence of aflatoxins are extensively discussed in the literature as a great aspect of interest and concern. This study aims to evaluate the microbial profile through DNA sequencing and amplification of 16S and ITS genes for bacterial and fungal analysis, respectively, and the presence of mycotoxins using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) from different fractions of the nuts processed.

Methods

The BN samples, harvest A (HA) and harvest B (HB), from two different harvests were collected in an extractive cooperative in the Amazon region for microbiological analysis (from DNA extraction and amplification of 16S genes, bacteria analysis, and ITS for fungi) and mycotoxins (aflatoxins AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2) using HPLC-FD/KobraCell®.

Results and discussion

The samples showed a very different microbiome and aflatoxin profile. Genera such as Rothia (HA) and Cronobacter (HB) were abundant during the analysis of bacteria; as for fungi, the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Alternaria were also considered prevalent in these samples. Soil microorganisms, including those pathogenic and related to inadequate hygienic-sanitary production practices, as well as aflatoxins, were found in the samples. However, they were within the established limits permitted by Brazilian legislation. Nuts have a diverse microbiota and are not restricted to fungi of the genus Aspergillus. The microbiological and toxicological profile can vary significantly within the same nut in the same extraction region and can be exacerbated by global climate changes. Therefore, it is necessary to advance sanitary educational actions by applying good production practices and inspection programs to ensure the sustainability and quality of the BN production chain.

Community Acquired Sphingomonas paucimobilis: Instigator or an Innocent Bystander

Sphingomonas paucimobilis is a rare cause of bacteremia. It can affect both healthy and immunocompromised individuals. Community acquired infections of this organism are more common than nosocomial ones. We report two cases of community acquired S. paucimobilis bacteremia-one in a healthy patient and other in a diabetic patient. Both presented with multiple episodes of loose stools, pain abdomen, vomiting, decreased oral intake and myalgia. They responded well to Cefipime 1g and Sulbactam 500mg combination antibiotic and were discharged satisfactorily. In the absence of standardized guidelines, antibiotic sensitivity guided case-to-case therapy is warranted with prompt initiation to prevent complications.

Markers of Chemical and Microbiological Contamination of the Air in the Sport Centers

This study aimed to assess the markers of chemical and microbiological contamination of the air at sport centers (e.g., the fitness center in Poland) including the determination of particulate matter, CO₂, formaldehyde (DustTrak™ DRX Aerosol Monitor; Multi-functional Air Quality Detector), volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration (headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), the number of microorganisms in the air (culture methods), and microbial biodiversity (high-throughput sequencing on the Illumina platform). Additionally the number of microorganisms and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (PCR) on the surfaces was determined. Total particle concentration varied between 0.0445 mg m^-3 and 0.0841 mg m^-3 with the dominance (99.65-99.99%) of the PM_2.5 fraction. The CO₂ concentration ranged from 800 ppm to 2198 ppm, while the formaldehyde concentration was from 0.005 mg/m³ to 0.049 mg m^-3. A total of 84 VOCs were identified in the air collected from the gym. Phenol, D-limonene, toluene, and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol dominated in the air at the tested facilities. The average daily number of bacteria was 7.17 × 10² CFU m^-3-1.68 × 10³ CFU m^-3, while the number of fungi was 3.03 × 10³ CFU m^-3-7.34 × 10³ CFU m^-3. In total, 422 genera of bacteria and 408 genera of fungi representing 21 and 11 phyla, respectively, were detected in the gym. The most abundant bacteria and fungi (>1%) that belonged to the second and third groups of health hazards were: Escherichia-Shigella, Corynebacterium, Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. In addition, other species that may be allergenic (Epicoccum) or infectious (Acinetobacter, Sphingomonas, Sporobolomyces) were present in the air. Moreover, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was detected on surfaces in the gym. The monitoring proposal for the assessment of the air quality at a sport center includes the following markers: total particle concentration with the PM_2.5 fraction, CO₂ concentration, VOCs (phenol, toluene, and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol), and the number of bacteria and fungi.

Lacrimal Drainage Infections with Sphingomonas paucimobilis: Clinical Presentations, Complications and Outcomes

PURPOSE

To report the clinical presentations, complications, and outcomes of Sphingomonas paucimobilis-specific lacrimal drainage infections.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review of all patients diagnosed with Sphingomonas paucimobilis lacrimal infections and managed at a tertiary care Dacryology Service from November 2015 to May 2022 over a 6.5-year period were recruited and analyzed. Data collected include demographic details, clinical presentation, microbiological diagnosis, antibiotic susceptibility profiles, management, complications, and outcomes. The microbiological techniques employed were aerobic and anaerobic cultures, phenotypic identification with VITEK 2^R system, polymerase chain reaction, antibiotic sensitivity profile and minimal inhibitory concentration.

RESULTS

Twelve Sphingomonas-specific lacrimal drainage infections of 11 patients were identified. Of these five were canaliculitis and seven were acute dacryocystitis. All the seven acute dacryocystitis presented in an advanced stage; five were with lacrimal abscess and two with orbital cellulitis. The antibiotic susceptibility profile of canaliculitis and acute dacryocystitis were comparable and the organism was sensitive to several classes of antibiotics. The outcomes of punctal dilatation and nonincisional curettage were effective for canaliculitis. Patients with acute dacryocystitis had advanced clinical stage at presentation but responded well to intensive systemic management and had excellent anatomical and functional outcomes with dacryocystorhinostomy.

CONCLUSION

Sphingomonas-specific lacrimal sac infections can have aggressive clinical presentations and need early and intensive therapy. The outcomes are excellent with multimodal management.

The fecal microbiota of gravidas with fetal growth restriction newborns characterized by metagenomic sequencing

BACKGROUND

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is a complex obstetric complication with various causes and of great harm. However, the specific pathogenesis of FGR is unclear, which limits its effective treatment. Gut microbiota dysbiosis was found to be important in pathogenesis of various diseases. However, its role in FGR development remains unclear and needs to be clarified.

METHODS

In our case-control study, we recruited eight FGR and eight control female participants and collected their fecal samples in third trimester before delivery. We performed metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatic analysis to compare the gut microbiota composition and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways between the two groups.

RESULTS

Our results showed that totally 20 gut microbes were significantly different between two groups (p<0•05), and the correlation analysis found that g__Roseomonas and g__unclassified_f__Propionibacteriaceae were significantly positive correlated with both maternal body mass index (BMI) before delivery, placental weight, and neonatal birth weight (BW) percentile (all p<0•05), while g__Marinisporobacter and g__Sphingomonas were significantly negative correlated with both neonatal BMI and neonatal BW percentile (all p<0•05). Through KEGG pathway analysis, we found that the abundance of the Nitrogen metabolism pathway decreased significantly (p<0•05) whereas the abundance of the Amoebiasis pathway increased significantly in the FGR group (p<0•05).

CONCLUSION

In this study, we demonstrated that the occurrence of FGR is associated with the change of gut microbiota of pregnant women.

The Gram-Negative Bacilli Isolated from Caves-Sphingomonas paucimobilis and Hafnia alvei and a Review of Their Involvement in Human Infections

The opportunistic infections with Gram-negative bacilli are frequently reported. The clinical studies are focused on the course of human infectious and very often the source of infection remain unclear. We aim to see if the Gram-negative bacilli isolated from a non-contaminated environment—the caves—are reported in human infections. Eleven samples were collected from six Romanian caves. We used the standard procedure used in our clinical laboratory for bacterial identification and for antibiotic susceptibility testing of the cave isolates. Out of the 14 bacterial strains, three isolates are Gram-negative bacilli—one isolate belong to Hafnia alvei and two strains belong to Sphingomonas paucimobilis. We screened for the published studies—full-text original articles or review articles—that reported human infections with S. paucimobilis and H. alvei. Data sources—PubMed and Cochrane library. We retrieved 447 cases from 49 references—262 cases (58.61%) are S. paucimobilis infections and 185 cases (41.39%) are H. alvei infections. The types of infections are diverse but there are some infections more frequent; there are 116 cases (44.27%) and many infections of the bloodstream with S. paucimobilius (116 cases) and 121 cases (65.41%) are urinary tract infections with H. alvei. The acquired source of the bloodstream infections is reported for 93 of S. paucimobilis bloodstream infections—50 cases (43%) are hospital-acquired, and 40 cases (37%) are community-acquired. Most of the infections are reported in patients with different underlying conditions. There are 80 cases (17.9%) are reported of previously healthy persons. Out of the 72 cases of pediatric infections, 62 cases (86.11%) are caused by S. paucimobilis. There are ten death casualties—three are H. alvei infections, and seven are S. paucimobilis infections.

Septic Arthritis Caused by Sphingomonas Paucimobilis in Immunocompetent Patient: Case Report and Literature Review

Septic arthritis, also known as infectious arthritis, is inflammation of the joints due to a wide range of pathogens, such as bacterial, fungal, mycobacterial, viral, or/and other pathogens; however, some opportunistic pathogens tend to affect immunocompromised patients and rarely infect immunocompetent patients. For example, Sphingomonaspaucimobilis is an opportunistic pathogen with a particular tropism toward bones and soft tissues that rarely causes infections in immunocompetent humans. We present a case of Sphingomonas paucimobilis causing septic arthritis in a 34-year-old man who is medically free and with no history of previous surgeries or any other comorbidities. He was treated successfully by both pharmacological treatment and surgical intervention. To our knowledge, there are only four cases published in the literature involving Sphingomonas paucimobilis as a causative organism of septic arthritis affecting immunocompetent patients.

The vertical migration of antibiotic-resistant genes and pathogens in soil and vegetables after the application of different fertilizers

The prevalence of bacterial resistance caused by the application of animal manure has become an important environmental issue. Herein, the vertical migration of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pathogens in soil and vegetables after the application of different fertilizers was explored. The results showed that the application of composted manure considerably enhanced the abundance of most ARGs and pathogens, especially in surface soil and pakchoi roots. Moreover, the soil ARGs increased partially from log 1.93 to log 4.65 after the application of composted manure, and six pathogens were simultaneously detected. It was observed that the increase in soil depth decreased most ARGs and pathogens by log 1.04-2.24 and 53.98 %~85.54 %, respectively. This indicated that ARGs and pathogens still existed in the deep soil (80-100 cm). Moreover, total organic carbon had a significant influence on the pathogen distribution, whereas bacterial communities primarily drove the vertical migration of ARGs rather than environmental factors. Although most of the ARG-host associations observed in the surface soil were disappeared in deep soil as revealed by network analysis, some co-occurrence pattern still occurred in deep soil, suggesting that some ARGs might be carried to deep soil by their host bacteria. These results were novel in describing the vertical migration of ARGs in the environment after the application of different fertilizers, providing ideas for curbing their migration to crops.

Periodic chemical cleaning with urea: disintegration of biofilms and reduction of key biofilm-forming bacteria from reverse osmosis membranes

Biofouling is one of the major factors causing decline in membrane performance in reverse osmosis (RO) plants, and perhaps the biggest hurdle of membrane technology. Chemical cleaning is periodically carried out at RO membrane installations aiming to restore membrane performance. Typical cleaning agents used in the water treatment industry include sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) in sequence. Rapid biofilm regrowth and related membrane performance decline after conventional chemical cleaning is a routinely observed phenomenon due to the inefficient removal of biomass from membrane modules. Since extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) make up the strongest and predominant structural framework of biofilms, disintegration of the EPS matrix should be the main target for enhanced biomass removal. Previously, we demonstrated at lab-scale the use of concentrated urea as a chemical cleaning agent for RO membrane systems. The protein denaturation property of urea was exploited to solubilize the proteinaceous foulants, weakening the EPS layer, resulting in enhanced biomass solubilization and removal from RO membrane systems. In this work, we investigated the impact of repeated chemical cleaning cycles with urea/HCl as well as NaOH/HCl on biomass removal and the potential adaptation of the biofilm microbial community. Chemical cleaning with urea/HCl was consistently more effective than NaOH/HCl cleaning over 6 cleaning and regrowth cycles. At the end of the 6 cleaning cycles, the percent reduction was 35% and 41% in feed channel pressure drop, 50% and 70% in total organic carbon, 30% and 40% in EPS proteins, and 40% and 66% in the peak intensities of protein-like matter, after NaOH/HCl cleaning and Urea/HCl cleaning, respectively. 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing of the biofilm microbial community revealed that urea cleaning does not select for key biofouling families such as Sphingomonadaceae and Xanthomonadaceae that are known to survive conventional chemical cleaning and produce adhesive EPS. This study reaffirmed that urea possesses all the desirable properties of a chemical cleaning agent, i.e., it dissolves the existing fouling layer, delays fresh fouling accumulation by inhibiting the production of a more viscous EPS, does not cause damage to the membranes, is chemically stable, and environmentally friendly as it can be recycled for cleaning.

A fatal case of early prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) - Sphingomonas paucimobilis

Sphyngomonas paucimobilis (S. paucimobilis) is a low-pathogenicity, gram-negative bacilli (GNB) that are previously known as an opportunist microorganism. Recent studies have shown that S. paucimobilis is an emerging pathogen causing various infections. Multidrug-resistant GNB has emerged as a major clinical and therapeutic dilemma in various hospital-associated infections. Although rare, S. paucimobilis could be associated with infective endocarditis (IE). Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) is the most severe type of IE, which has high mortality rates despite diagnostic and treatment advances. We report a fatal case of early PVE associated with multidrug-resistant (MDR) - S. paucimobilis complicated with perivalvular abscess, complete heart block, valve detachment, and septic arthritis.

Gut Microbiota Changes and Their Correlation with Cognitive and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease

BACKGROUND

Gut microbiota can influence human brain function and behavior. Recent studies showed that gut microbiota might play an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the composition of gut microbiota in AD patients and their association with cognitive function and neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS).

METHODS

The fecal samples from 60 AD patients (30 with NPS and 30 without NPS) and 32 healthy control subjects (HC) were collected and analyzed by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. The functional variations of gut microbiota were predicted using Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States. The correlation between different bacterial taxa and cognitive (Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR)), and NPS measures were analyzed.

RESULTS

The fecal microbial composition of AD patients was quite distinct from HC. Bifidobacterium, Sphingomonas, Lactobacillus, and Blautia were enriched, while Odoribacter, Anaerobacterium, and Papillibacter were reduced. AD patients with NPS showed decreased Chitinophagaceae, Taibaiella, and Anaerobacterium compared with those without NPS. Functional pathways were different between AD and HC, and between AD patients with and without NPS. Correlation analysis showed that Sphingomonas correlated negatively with MMSE; Anaerobacterium and Papillibacter correlated positively with MMSE and negatively with CDR. Cytophagia, Rhodospirillaceae, and Cellvibrio correlated positively with NPS, while Chitinophagaceae, Taibaiella, and Anaerobacterium correlated negatively with NPS.

CONCLUSION

AD patients have gut microbiota alterations related to cognition, and differential taxa between AD patients with and without NPS associated differently with NPS domains, which helps further understand the pathogenesis of AD and explore potential therapeutic targets.

Sphingomonas paucimobilis outbreak in a dialysis room: Case report and literature review of an emerging healthcare associated infection

Sphingomonas paucimobilis is an emerging aerobic, nonfermenting gram-negative, opportunistic bacterium involved in many healthcare-associated infections. We herein report the first outbreak of S paucimobilis catheter related bacteriemia occurred on the same day in 3 patients sharing a dialysis room. This report suggests that S paucimobilis could represent a further emerging cause of rapidly spreading healthcare-associated infections, and highlights the importance of a high level of surveillance and control measures.

Isolation of Arcobacter species and other neglected opportunistic agents from aborted bovine and caprine fetuses

Background

Infectious abortion in ruminants is a problem in animal husbandry worldwide. It is important to obtain a diagnosis, to make sure that proper control measures can be instituted, but most abortion cases remain without an etiologic diagnosis. This report describes the presence of Arcobacter species and several neglected opportunistic abortifacient agents in ruminant abortion cases showing or not co-infections among at least one of the major recognized protozoal, fungal, bacterial and viral abortifacient agents.

Results

A total of 67 fetuses (55 cattle and 12 goats) and just one placenta (cattle) were considered. Among the most common abortive agents, Neospora caninum (19,4%), followed by Chlamydophila abortus (4,5%), Listeria monocytogenes 1/2a (2,98%), Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus type 1b (2,98%), Bovine herpesvirus 4 (2,98%), and Aspergillus spp. (2,98%) were detected. The isolated neglected opportunistic bacteria include Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter lwoffii, Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus suis, Trueperella pyogenes, Mannheimia haemolytica, Bacillus cereus and Nocardia spp. Other bacterial species, not associated with abortion by literature, but described as causes of diseases occurring sporadically both in humans and animals, were also detected. Three Arcobacter strains, namely two A. skirrowii and one A. cryaerophilus, were isolated from 3 bovine aborted fetuses, and A. butzleri was isolated from the placenta.

Conclusions

A not negligible isolation of Arcobacter species and other neglected abortifacient agents has to be mentioned, with prevalences that seem to be emerging and replacing or co-placing the major infectious players in bovine and caprine reproductive failure due to abortion disease, even if further studies investigating the aetiological power and transmission routes are needed in order to define the role of these microrganisms in ruminant abortion.