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Aeromonas were isolated from 27 (6.6%) of 408 patients admitted with acute gastroenteritis in two hospitals at Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Isolates were classified as A. hydrophila (51.8%), A. caviae (40.8%), and A. veronii biotype sobria (7.4%). The highest prevalence of Aeromonas associated infections occurred in lactants and children. Virulence genes (aerA -aerolysin/hemolysin, ahpA -serine-protease, satAglycerophospholipid-cholesterol acyltransferase, lipA -lipase, and ahyB -elastase) and virulence factors (hemolytic, proteolitic, lipolitic activities, and biofilm formation) were identified in most A. hydrophila and A. veronii biotype sobria isolates, with lower frequencies on A. caviae. All Aeromonas isolates were resistant to ampicillin, ticarcillin/clavulanic acid, cephalotin, and cephazolin, and most of them (>70%) exhibited resistance to imipenem, carbenicillin, amoxillin/sulbactan, and piperacillin. Multiple-resistance, more than four antibiotics, was evidenced in 29.6% of the isolates. The most efficient antibiotics were the quinolones (ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin), and the aminoglycosides (amikacin and netilmicin).

Several probiotic bacteria have been proposed for treatment or prevention of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), showing a protective effect in animal models of experimental colitis and for some of them also in human clinical trials. While most of these probiotic bacteria are isolated from the digestive tract, we recently reported that a Lactobacillus strain isolated from cheese, L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis CNRZ327 (Lb CNRZ327), also possesses anti-inflammatory effects in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating that common dairy bacteria may be useful in the treatment or prevention of IBD. Here, we studied the mechanisms underlying the protective effects of Lb CNRZ327 in vivo, in a mouse dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) colitis model. During colitis, Lb CNRZ327 modulated the production of TGF-β, IL-6, and IL-12 in colonic tissue and of TGF-β and IL-6 in the spleen, and caused an expansion of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in the cecal lymph nodes. Moreover, a strong tendency to CD4+Foxp3+ expansion was also observed in the spleen. The results of this study for the first time show that orally administered dairy lactobacilli can not only modulate mucosal but also systemic immune responses and constitute an effective treatment of IBD.

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Nosocomial infections constitute an important problem in hospitals, intensive care units (ICU) having the highest incidence of this type of infection. Staphylococci, especially Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus, are among the most important microorganisms associated with nosocomial infections. S. epidermidis is a common skin resident, and can be introduced into the clinical environment by patients and hospital staff. The situation in hospitals is aggravated by the emergence of multiresistant strains. We evaluated 98 hospital S. epidermidis isolates collected at neonatal, pediatric and adult ICUs and 20 S. epidermidis control skin resident isolates from healthy volunteers, for resistance to ten antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents, and other pathogenicity factors. A high frequency (76.5%) of multiresistance was detected in clinical isolates, whereas community isolates were resistant to penicillin and ampicillin only. The frequency of multiresistant strains was 67.7% in the neonatal ICU, 66.6% in the pediatric ICU and 60.8% in the adult ICU, the lower frequency of multiresistant isolates in the adult ICU indicates a higher incidence of community strains in this unit. There were significantly higher frequencies of hemolytic, proteolytic and biofilm-forming isolates in the clinical isolates than the community isolates, indicating a higher incidence of strains with pathogenic potential in the hospital environment. Except for slight correlation with hemolytic activity there was no correlation between antibiotic multiresistance and pathogenicity factors.

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