Objective: Untreated periodontal disease seems to cause low grade systemic inflammation and blood lipid alteration leading to increased cardiovascular disease risk. To start testing this hypothesis in Colombian patients, a multicentre study was conducted including the three main state capitals: Bogotá, Medellín and Cali. Methods: In this study 192 (28.4%) advanced and 256 (37.8%) moderate periodontitis patients were investigated for socio-demographic variables, city of precedence, periodontal parameters, smoking, red complex periodontopathic bacteria, serum antibodies against Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and blood lipids including total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides (TG). Those parameters were compared to 229 (33.8%) controls having periodontal health or gingivitis. Results: Advanced periodontitis had worst periodontal indexes, than moderate periodontitis and controls. Interestingly, higher HDL and TG levels were present in periodontitis. BMI <30 and smoking were associated with increased HDL, HDL-35, LDL and TG, while glycemia >100 mg/dL associated with HDL, HDL-35 and TG. Tannerella forsythia showed a significant association with HDL-35 in bivariate analysis and serum IgG1 against P. gingivalis associated with HDL-35 and serum IgG1 against T. forsythia associated with TG and serum IgG2 against A. actinomycetemcomitans correlated with levels of HDL y HDL-35. In logistic regression the periodontitis patients from Cali presented reduced HDL levels as compared to Bogotá and Medellín patients. Presence of IgG1 antibodies against P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans correlated with reduced HDL levels. Conclusion: This study confirmed that untreated periodontitis generates alteration in serum lipid levels and systemic bacterial exposure against important periodontopathic bacteria seems to be the biological link.

Forty-six Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 clinical isolates resistant to nalidixic acid were studied. The use of molecular typing techniques, other indicators of resistance patterns, the plasmid profile, and the presence of genes that encode aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme production suggested to us a clonal dissemination of the studied strains

We have studied the prevalence of the different macrolide, lincosamide, streptograminB (MLS(B)) phenotypes among clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates erythromycin- and/or oxacillin-resistant; and also the activity of other antimicrobial agents including telithromycin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, linezolid, aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol and vancomycin. We found that 64.86% of S. aureus were oxacillin-resistant. While the most prevalent MLS(B) phenotype among methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was constitutive MLS(B) (cMLS) (83%), among methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) it was inducible MLS(B) (iMLS(B)) (90%). Kanamycin resistance was more frequent than resistance to other aminoglycosides, being 100% for MRSA. Telithromycin was only active against iMLS(B), MS and erythromycin-susceptible isolates, although resistance rates were found among iMLS(B) MSSA (2.78%). Quinupristin/dalfopristin showed greater activity, with resistance rates of 2.5% for MRSA and 1.53% for MSSA. Both vancomycin and linezolid were fully active against all the isolates tested, with the highest MIC value being 2 microg/ml and 4 microg/ml, respectively. Among MRSA strains, 81.67% displayed resistance to five or more antimicrobials. This multiresistance was more frequently found among cMLS(B) strains (96.38% MRSA resistant to 6-9 agents).

RESUMEN:El ácido hipocloroso (HOCl) es un potente antimicrobiano no antibiótico utilizado en medicina clínica para el control de infecciones y reparación de heridas. In vivo el HOCl es sintetizado por células del sistema inmune para el control del agente patógeno durante la fagocitosis y ha sido sintetizado y estabilizado en el laboratorio con potenciales aplicaciones profilácticas y terapéuticas en medicina humana. El efecto antimicrobiano, antinflamatorio y en la proliferación celular lo hacen una sustancia que debe ser más evaluada para uso clínico en otras áreas de salud. Existe un interés en el desarrollo de nuevas sustancias antimicrobianas de uso tópico en odontología para el control del biofilm dental, la inflamación gingival y para la cicatrización de heridas de la mucosa oral. Se presenta una revisión de la literatura de los principales efectos del HOCl que sustentan su investigación y uso en odontología.PALABRAS CLAVE: acido hipocloroso, HOCl, biofilm dental, cicatrización de heridas.

Background Vancomycin is a common first-line option for MRSA infections. The heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA) phenotype is associated with therapeutic failure. However, hVISA isolates are usually reported as vancomycin susceptible by routine susceptibility testing procedures. Objectives To detect and characterize the hVISA phenotype in MRSA isolates causing infections in nine Latin American countries. Methods We evaluated a total of 1189 vancomycin-susceptible MRSA isolates recovered during 2006–08 and 2011–14. After an initial screening of hVISA using glycopeptide-supplemented agar strategies, the detection of hVISA was performed by Etest (GRD) and Macro-method (MET). Isolates deemed to be hVISA were subjected to population analysis profile/AUC (PAP/AUC) and WGS for further characterization. Finally, we interrogated alterations in predicted proteins associated with the development of the VISA phenotype in both hVISA and vancomycin-susceptible S. aureus (VSSA) genomes. Results A total of 39 MRSA isolates (3.3%) were classified as hVISA (1.4% and 5.6% in MRSA recovered from 2006–08 and 2011–14, respectively). Most of the hVISA strains (95%) belonged to clonal complex (CC) 5. Only 6/39 hVISA isolates were categorized as hVISA by PAP/AUC, with 6 other isolates close (0.87–0.89) to the cut-off (0.9). The majority of the 39 hVISA isolates exhibited the Leu-14→Ile (90%) and VraT Glu-156→Gly (90%) amino acid substitutions in WalK. Additionally, we identified 10 substitutions present only in hVISA isolates, involving WalK, VraS, RpoB and RpoC proteins. Conclusions The hVISA phenotype exhibits low frequency in Latin America. Amino acid substitutions in proteins involved in cell envelope homeostasis and RNA synthesis were commonly identified. Our results suggest that Etest-based methods are an important alternative for the detection of hVISA clinical isolates.

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We report a case of soft tissue infection, sepsis, and bacteremia due to Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis) in a diabetic young patient and the genomic characterization of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolate (COL-5428).

BackgroundCarbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is a serious public health threat. A major epidemic of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae has occurred in Colombia through complex mechanisms of blaKPC dissemination. In the framework of a prospective, observational cohort study (CRACKLE-2), we aimed to characterize the genomic epidemiology of CRE circulating in Colombia.MethodsWe performed whole-genome sequencing of 52 isolates collected from the same number of patients (July 2017–April 2018) in 5 Colombian hospitals. Species confirmation and sequence type were determined using Strain Seeker and MLST database. Resistance genes were detected using ResFinder and CARD databases. Phylogenetic reconstruction included additional 108 isolates of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae from a previous study.Results K. pneumoniae (36%), Escherichia coli (17%), and Enterobacter cloacae complex(17%) were the most frequent species. Genes conferring resistance to carbapenems were detected in 93% of isolates. blaKPC-2/3,blaNDM-1 andblaVIM-2/24 were identified in 81%, 15%, and 5% of isolates, respectively. Phylogenetic reconstructions of K. pneumoniae showed that clonal group 258 (CG258) were the predominant genetic lineage (Figure 1). Among CG258, ST11 was the most common comprising ca. 26% of isolates. Of note, ST11 had been extremely rare in previous surveillance studies in Colombia. The non-CG258 were from 9 different STs and exhibited high genomic diversity. Among E. coli isolates 33% belonged to the high-risk clone ST131 harboring blaKPC-2 and we detected both blaKPC-2 and blaVIM-24 in 1 E. coli ST131 isolate. ST510 E. cloacae complex harboring blaKPC-2 was the most common (44%) lineage.Conclusion K. pneumoniae and E. coli are the most frequent CRE isolated from patients in Colombian hospitals. Dissemination of blaKPC through horizontal gene transfer to several species of Enterobacteriaceae continues to be a common mechanism of spread. Although KPC continues to be the most common carbapenemase, a rise in high-risk clonal lineages harboring metallo-carbapenemases, in particular NDM-1 is worrisome. Our results indicate emergence of virulent genetic lineages of K. pneumoniae ST11 and E. coli ST131 carrying carbapenemases in Colombia. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.