A clinical isolate of C. freundii with reduced susceptibility to extended-spectrum β-lactams from a woman with cystocele associated with recurrent urinary tract infection was analyzed. Susceptibility tests, double disk synergy tests (DDST) and enzymatic activity by the agar iodometric method suggested the presence of ESBLs. Conjugation experiments revealed the presence of a large conjugative plasmid (pLM07/20) with an exclusive FrepB replicon type (IncF/FIB). PCR analysis and sequencing confirmed the presence of the blaCTX-M-14 gene in the pLM07/20 from C. freundii.LM07/10. Although this is the first report of CTX-M-14 in Venezuela, we alert the medical community that future increase of these β-lactamases in our city could be due to dissemination of plasmids into bacterial populations.

The essential oil of Cordia verbenacea D.C. (Boraginaceae) that grows in Mérida-Venezuela was obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of the plant, yielding 0.21%. The oil was analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. Thirty one components which made up 94.3% of the oil were identified. The most abundant constituents found were: tricyclene (23.9%), bicyclogermacrene (11.7%), germacrene D (9.9%) and β-caryophyllene (8.2%). Antibacterial activity determination was carried out according to the disc diffusion assay. Activity against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, at a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 170 μg/mL and 200 μg/mL, was found.

Antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Lippia oreganoides was evaluated against thirty-nine multiresistant bacterial strains of nosocomial origin and five reference bacterial strains using the disk diffusion agar method. The results obtained have revealed strong antibacterial activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, extended spectrum β-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, and multiresistant Acinetobacter baumannii with MIC values ranging from 20 to 40 μg/mL. The low dose antibacterial activity observed in this investigation suggested that the essential oil of L. oreganoides could be used in pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of infections caused by multiresistant bacteria. According to the literature consulted, this is the first time that antibacterial activity of this species against multiresistant bacterial strains of nosocomial origin has been reported.

The essential oil obtained from the leaves of Lantana camara var. moritziana (Otto & Dietr.) López-Palacios collected at Rubio, Táchira State, Venezuela, was obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger trap (0.1% yield). The oil was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) on HP GC-MS System, model 5973, identifying 33 compounds (97.1%) of which the major components were germacrene D (31.0%), followed by β-caryophyllene (14.8%), α-phellandrene (6.7%), limonene (5.7%) and 1,8-cineole (5.2%). Evaluation of the antibacterial activity by agar diffusion method with discs against international reference bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella Typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) showed growing inhibition of E. faecalis and S. aureus at MIC of 350 mg/mL and 400 mg/mL, respectively.

The chemical composition of the essential oil from the leaves of Coleus amboinicus Lour., an aromatic shrub with ethnobotanical uses was analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. Fifteen components were identified by GC-MS and carvacrol (65.2 %) was found to be the major constituent. The essential oil showed antibacterial activity against important enteric pathogens (Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and Vibrio sp.), with MIC values of 10 μg/ml. Introduction:Coleus amboinicus Lour., (Lamiaceae) is an aromatic shrub popularly known as "oreganon". It is widely distributed in Venezuela where it is traditionally used to treat renal dissorders and infections of the urinary tract, as well as to treat colds and colon disturbances 1 . According to the Missouri Botanical Gardens the name Plectranthus amboinicus is a synonym of C. amboinicus. A phytochemical study on the genus reported monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes (abietanes and labdanes), and phenolic compounds 2 . Brieskorn and Riedel 3 isolated eight triterpenic acids from the leaves of this plant and later they reported the isolation of six flavones, one flavonone, and one flovononol 4 . Several reports on the composition of the essential oil of C. amboinicus have been published and in the majority of them carvacrol (39.49 -63.83 %) is the most abundant component 5-10 , while Baslas and Kumar (41.3 %) 1 1 , Singh et al., (41.3 %) 12 and Haque (79.8 %) 13 , reported thymol as the most abundant constituent.

El aceite esencial (AE) obtenido de las hojas y flores de Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit. recolectado en Guasdualito, Estado Apure, Venezuela, fue obtenido por hidrodestilación empleando una trampa de Clevenger. El aceite se analizó mediante cromatografía de gases acoplada a espectrometría de masas (GC/MS), se identificaron treinta y cinco compuestos en las hojas (91.9% de la muestra) y treinta compuestos en las flores (97.0% de la muestra), con los siguientes compuestos principales: 1,8-cineol (19.1% hojas, 13.3% flores), fenchona (18.5% hojas, 16.1% flores), biciclogermacreno (12.7% hojas, 18.8% flores), D-Germacreno (6.3% hojas, 10.0% flores). La actividad antibacteriana se evaluó por el método de difusión en agar con discos contra Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 23357, Salmonella typhi CDC 57, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. Ambos AE inhibieron el desarrollo de E. coli, K. pneumoniae y S. typhi, con una concentración inhibitoria mínima (CIM) que osciló entre 300 μL/mL y 450 μL/mL. Estos resultados representan un aporte al estudio del AE de H. suaveolens, siendo el primer reporte sobre la actividad antibacteriana del AE de las flores de esta especie.

Introduction: In Latin America, gastrointestinal infections represent one of the main causes of death among indigenous groups, with a mortality rate three times greater than in the general population. In this study, the carrier state of enteropathogens and the epidemiological risk factor in asymptomatic children from indigenous communities of Mérida, Venezuela, were determined. Methodology: Fifty-eight healthy children, 5 years of age and under, were clinically and epidemiologically evaluated. Fecal samples were tested for a range of classic enteropathogens. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests (AST) were performed by dilution methods. Results: Of the specimens studied, there were 34 (58.6%) positive samples, and a single enteropathogen was detected in 22 (64.6%) of these. Associations of two and three enteropathogens were observed in 10 (29.3%) and two (5.8%) cases, respectively. Blastocystis hominis (16; 47.0%) and Salmonella spp. (15; 43.9%) were the most frequently detected enteropathogens. Carriage of enteropathogens was most frequent in children older than two years. The variety of food in the daily diet was the risk factor strongly associated with the presence of parasites and/or enteric bacteria (p = 0.024  0.05 and p = 0.000  0.05, respectively). The majority of these bacteria were susceptible to the antibiotics tested in vitro. Conclusion: This study shows a high prevalence of enteropathogen carriage in asymptomatic children aged five and under from indigenous communities; this result is statistically related to the consumption of food. These findings stress the need of continuous epidemiological surveillance in vulnerable populations, as an important step to prevent the morbidity and mortality due to gastrointestinal infections.

The essential oils from leaves of Baccharis latifolia and B. prunifolia collected in January 2006 were analyzed by GC/MS. The yields of oils extracted by hydrodistillation were 0.27 and 0.29% for B. latifolia and B. prunifolia, respectively. Sixteen (B. latifolia) and twenty nine (B. prunifolia) components were identified by comparison of their mass spectra with the Wiley GC-MS Library data and by their retention indices (RI). The identified products may be divided into four different groups: monoterpenes (9.0% B. latifolia; 43.9% B. prunifolia), oxygenated monoterpenes (0.8% B. latifolia; 5.4% B. prunifolia), sesquiterpenes (20.4% B. latifolia; 45.9% B. prunifolia) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (69.8% B. latifolia; 1.9% B. prunifolia). The oils showed antibacterial activity only against Gram positive bacteria, with MIC values for Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) of 80 μg/mL (B. latifolia) and Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) of 90 μg/mL and 260 μg/mL (B latifolia and B. prunifolia, respectively).