Proteasome inhibitors attenuate TGF-β signalling by blocking Smad signal transduction in vitro, but do not inhibit renal interstitial fibrosis in vivo.
Aims: The characterization of KC122.1, which is a vancomycin‐dependent VRE (Vancomycin‐resistant enterococci) (Enterococcus faecalis) and the first case in Japan of a VRE isolate obtained from chicken meat imported from China.
Methods and Results: PCR amplification of vanA, vanS and ddl gene and direct sequencing of the PCR products were performed. KC122.1 was a VanA‐type VRE showing high‐level vancomycin resistance and low‐level teicoplanin resistance, and its vanS gene had three point mutations. The ddl gene of KC122.1 was sequenced and two changes were found at the ninth codon (GCC–GAC) and the stop codon (TAA–CAA). The latter change was also found in the laboratory strain E. faecalis FA2‐2.
Conclusions: Three point mutations in vanS resulted in high‐level vancomycin resistance and low‐level teicoplanin resistance. The change at the ninth codon resulted in the inactivation of the ddl gene and vancomycin‐dependent growth. An eight amino acid extension at the C‐terminal did not impair the function of the d‐Ala : d‐Ala ligase.
Significance and Impact of the study: This is the first example of the isolation of VRE from chicken meat imported from China and the first vancomycin‐dependent VRE from a nonhuman source.
Diaphragmatic hernia complicating pregnancy is rare and is associated with high morbidity and mortality, particularly if surgical intervention is delayed. We report a case of diaphragmatic hernia in a pregnant 25-year-old woman. The patient was referred to our hospital in respiratory distress in the 28th week of her pregnancy. Chest radiograph and computed tomography showed air-filled bowel loops in the left side of the chest, with a marked mediastinal shift. Immediately after an emergency caesarean section, the herniated abdominal viscera were reduced through the opening in the diaphragm. We resected the ischemic segment of ileum and repaired the diaphragmatic defect with interrupted sutures and a Gore-Tex sheet. She had an uneventful postoperative course and her baby boy also recovered well. We report this case to alert surgeons to the possibility of this rare surgical emergency during pregnancy.
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