A total of 1,838 subjects from the community and 393 subjects from health care-related facilities in Taiwan were evaluated for the prevalence of nasal Staphylococcus aureus colonization and to identify risk factors associated with S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) colonization. Among the community subjects, 3.5% had nasal MRSA colonization. Subjects from health care-related facilities had a lower S. aureus colonization rate (19.1%) than community subjects (25.2%) but had a significantly higher rate of colonization with MRSA (7.63%). Age (P < 0.001) was a significant risk factor for S. aureus colonization, with subjects under age 20 years or between 71 and 80 years showing higher rates of colonization. Recent gastrointestinal disease (P ‫؍‬ 0.011) and hospital admission (P ‫؍‬ 0.026) were risk factors for nasal MRSA colonization. Comparison of hospital MRSA isolates with the colonization strains by staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) gene typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing revealed that most MRSA strains carried in the community were SCCmec type IV and that most clinical hospital isolates were type III, while health care facility-related carriage isolates were mainly SCCmec type III and type IV. Two new variant SCCmec types were identified. Six clusters of PFGE patterns were distinguished: two mainly comprised health care facility-related MRSA strains, three mainly comprised community MRSA strains, and one comprised mixed community and health care facility-related MRSA strains. In conclusion, a high prevalence of MRSA colonization was observed among people with no relationship to the hospital setting. The high level of multiple-drug resistance among community MRSA strains in association with the previously reported excessive use of antibiotics in Taiwan highlights the importance of the problem of antibiotic selective pressure. Our results indicate that both the clonal spread of MRSA and the transmission of hospital isolates contribute to the high MRSA burden in the community.

No abstract

Because cockroach infestation occurred in more than 40% of the hospitals and nearly all of the cockroaches harbored bacteria with multidrug resistance and fungi, cockroaches may play a potential role in the epidemiology of nosocomial infections in those hospitals.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the root wood of Zanthoxylum wutaiense led to the isolation of 11 new compounds, wutaiensol methyl ether (1), demethoxywutaiensol methyl ether (2), methyl wutaiensate (3), methyl 7-hydroxyanodendroate (4), methyl 7-methoxyanodendroate (5), wutaifuranol (6), 7-methoxywutaifuranol (7), 7-methoxywutaifuranal (8), methyl wutaifuranate (9), methyl 7-methoxybenzofuran-5-carboxylate (10), and wutaipyranol (12), together with another 37 known compounds, of which one, 7-methoxybenzofuran-5-carboxaldehyde (11), was not previously known as a plant constituent. The structures of these isolates were identified by means of spectroscopic analysis. Five of these isolates were found to be antitubercular constituents, namely, methyl 7-methoxyanodendroate (5), 7-methoxywutaifuranal (8), wutaiensal (13), dictamnine (14), and gamma-fagarine (15), which exhibited antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, showing MIC values of 35, 35, 30, 30, and 30 microg/mL, respectively.

In Taiwan, we found two hepatitis B virus (HBV)- and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-endemic townships, Paisha and Tzukuan, with an anti-HCV prevalence of 19 and 37% in men, and 26 and 38% in women, respectively. The hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive rates were 25 and 18%, for men and women in Paisha, and 25 and 22% in Tzukuan, respectively. According to the national death certification database (1982 to 1991), the annual age-adjusted mortality rates per 100,000 population for liver cancer among men and women were 83.0 and 13.8, respectively, in Paisha, and 55.9 and 17.0 in Tzukuan compared with 30.9 and 9.1 in Taiwan as a whole. The male-to-female ratios were 6.0 in Paisha and 3.3 in Tzukuan. Aetiology of 11 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from Paisha and 14 cases from Tzukuan were analysed. All HCC cases from Paisha were HBsAg positive, while 13/14 HCC cases from Tzukuan were anti-HCV positive. The endemic duration of HCV in Tzukuan seemed long enough to induce HCC, but the HCV appeared to be a newly introduced infection in Paisha.

No abstract

One novel dimeric coumarin analog, fatouapilosin (1), together with 18 known compounds, have been isolated from the whole plants of Fatoua pilosa. The structures of these isolates were elucidated by means of spectroscopic techniques (UV, IR, MS, 1H- and 13C-NMR, DEPT, COSY, NOESY, HSQC, HMBC, and MS analyses). Among the tested compounds 2-14, scopoletin (3), isobavachalcone (12), and (E)-1-[2,4-dihydroxy-3-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)phenyl]-3-(2,2-dimethyl-8-hydroxy-2H-benzopyran-6-yl)prop-2-en-1-one (14) exhibited the strongest antimycobacterial activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv, with MIC values of 42, 18, and 30 microg/ml, respectively.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the active AcOEt-soluble layer led to the isolation of two new pyranocoumarins, 3-hydroxyxanthyletin (1) and 3-methoxyxanthyletin (2), along with 22 known compounds including four simple coumarins, i.e., xanthyletin (3), umbelliferone (4), scopoletin (5), and (+)-(S)-marmesin (6); nine flavonoids, i.e., carpachromene (7), parvisoflavone B (8), alpinumisoflavone (9) genistein (10), 2'-hydroxygenistein (11), prunetin (12), cajanin (13), apigenin (14), and (2S)-naringenin (15); three benzenoids, i.e., 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (16), vanillin (17), and (S)-lasiodiplodin (18); five steroids, i.e., ergosterol peroxide (19), a mixture of 6beta-hydroxystigmast-4-en-3-one (20) and 6beta-hydroxystigmasta-4,22-dien-3-one (21), and a mixture of beta-sitosterol (22) and stigmasterol (23); and one triterpenoid, i.e., oleanolic acid (24) from the roots of Ficus nervosa. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR as well as MS analyses. Among these isolates, 3-hydroxyxanthyletin (1), genistein (10), prunetin (12), and (2S)-naringenin (15) showed antimycobacterial activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)R(V) in vitro with MIC values of 16, 35, 30, and < or =2.8 microg/ml, respectively.