Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by P. mirabilis are difficult to cure because of the increasing antimicrobial resistance of these bacteria. Phage therapy is proposed as an alternative infection treatment. The aim of this study was to isolate and differentiate uropathogenic P. mirabilis strain specific polyvalent bacteriophages producing polysaccharide depolymerases (PDs). 51 specific phages were obtained. The plaques of 29 bacteriophages were surrounded by halos, which indicated that they produced PDs. The host range analysis showed that, except phages 58B and 58C, the phage host range profiles differed from each other. Phages 35 and 45 infected all P. mirabilis strains tested. Another 10 phages lysed more than 90% of isolates. Among these phages, 65A, 70, 66 and 66A caused a complete lysis of the bacterial lawn formed by 62% to 78% of strains. Additionally, phages 39A and 70 probably produced PDs. The phages' DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis demonstrated that genomes of 51 isolated phages represented 34 different restriction profiles. DNA of phage 58A seemed to be resistant to selected EcoRV endonuclease. The 33 RFLP-EcoRV profiles showed a Dice similarity index of 38.8%. 22 RFLP patterns were obtained from single phage isolates. The remaining 12 restriction profiles consisted of 2 to 4 viruses. The results obtained from phage characterization based on the pattern of phage host range in combination with the RFLP method enabled effective differentiation of the studied phages and selection of PD producing polyvalent phages for further study.

Effects of age, gender and physical activity on plasma lipid profile Study aim: To assess the effects of gender, age and engagement in physical activities of elderly subjects on their plasma lipid profiles. Material and methods: Four groups of subjects, n = 11 each, participated in the study: young men (YM) and women (YW), aged 25 - 32 years, and sedentary, elderly men (EM) and women (EW), aged 58 - 66 years; additionally, a group of 7 women (AW), aged 60 - 65 years, who trained twice weekly (45-min sessions) for 8 months, was studied. The following concentrations of lipids in plasma were recorded: triacylglycerols (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and its fractions: HDLC and LDLC (computed), as well as the TC/HDLC ratio. Results: Lipid profiles were, generally, less favourable in elderly than in younger subjects, high HDLC values noted in active, elderly women being an exception. In elderly subjects, men's profiles were closer to those of younger subjects than in elderly women and differed significantly (p<0.001) lower for TC and LDLC compared with EW group. Triacylglycerols were within normal limits in all groups except EW; LDLC values were mostly abnormally high, the percentages of subjects having normal values ranging from 0 (YM and EW) to 27% (YW). Conclusions: The age-dependent worsening of lipid profiles increased the risk of cardiovascular diseases in sedentary elderly subjects. On the other hand, the beneficial effects of motor activities on lipid profile observed in elderly women evidence the indispensability recommending of physical exercises to the elderly.