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Germs Sep 2023The annual incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) is 3-9 cases per 100000 in developed countries and most cases are due to staphylococci and streptococci. IE due to...
INTRODUCTION
The annual incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) is 3-9 cases per 100000 in developed countries and most cases are due to staphylococci and streptococci. IE due to Gram-positive anaerobic cocci (GPAC) is very rare.
CASE REPORT
We present a case of a 38-year-old female with bacteremia and infective endocarditis of the native mitral valve. She presented with fever, chills, and abdominal pain. A computed tomographic scan of the abdomen showed splenic abscesses. Blood cultures and broad-range PCR from the splenic abscess sample were negative. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a mobile filamentous structure on the atrial side of the anterior mitral leaflet which was suggestive for infective endocarditis. Karius test (cell-free microbial DNA testing) showed Gram-positive anaerobic cocci She was successfully treated with antibiotics.
CONCLUSIONS
In cases of infection with fastidious organisms like GPACs, the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) can allow the correct identification of culprit pathogens and streamlined treatment.
PubMed: 38146378
DOI: 10.18683/germs.2023.1396 -
Nutrients Jan 2023Dietary methionine restriction (MR) has been shown to decrease plasma trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) levels in high-fat diet mice; however, the specific mechanism used is...
Dietary methionine restriction (MR) has been shown to decrease plasma trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) levels in high-fat diet mice; however, the specific mechanism used is unknown. We speculated that the underlying mechanism is related with the gut microbiota, and this study aimed to confirm the hypothesis. In this study, we initially carried out an in vitro fermentation experiment and found that MR could reduce the ability of gut microbiota found in the contents of healthy mice and the feces of healthy humans to produce trimethylamine (TMA). Subsequently, mice were fed a normal diet (CON, 0.20% choline + 0.86% methionine), high-choline diet (H-CHO, 1.20% choline + 0.86% methionine), or high-choline + methionine-restricted diet (H-CHO+MR, 1.20% choline + 0.17% methionine) for 3 months. Our results revealed that MR decreased plasma TMA and TMAO levels in H-CHO-diet-fed mice without changing hepatic FMO3 gene expression and enzyme activity, significantly decreased TMA levels and expression of choline TMA-lyase () and its activator , and decreased CutC activity in the intestine. Moreover, MR significantly decreased the abundance of TMA-producing bacteria, including ( phylum) and ( phylum), and significantly increased the abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and SCFA levels. Furthermore, both MR and sodium butyrate supplementation significantly inhibited bacterial growth, down-regulated gene expression levels in TMA-producing bacteria, including and and decreased TMA production from bacterial growth under in vitro anaerobic fermentation conditions. In conclusion, dietary MR alleviates choline-induced TMAO elevation by manipulating gut microbiota in mice and may be a promising approach to reducing circulating TMAO levels and TMAO-induced atherosclerosis.
Topics: Humans; Mice; Animals; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Choline; Methionine; Methylamines; Bacteria; Racemethionine
PubMed: 36615863
DOI: 10.3390/nu15010206 -
Current Microbiology Jul 2021An obligate anaerobic, Gram-stain-positive, non-spore forming, non-motile, catalase and oxidase-negative, coccoid-shaped bacterium designated AGMB00486 was isolated from...
An obligate anaerobic, Gram-stain-positive, non-spore forming, non-motile, catalase and oxidase-negative, coccoid-shaped bacterium designated AGMB00486 was isolated from swine faeces. The optimal growth of the isolate occurred at pH 8.0 and 37 ℃. Furthermore, the growth was observed in the presence of up to 4% (w/v) NaCl but not at salinity levels higher than 5%. The phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain AGMB00486 was a member of the genus Anaerococcus and that the isolate was most closely related to Anaerococcus vaginalis KCTC 15028 (96.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) followed by Anaerococcus hydrogenalis KCTC 15014 (96.7%) and Anaerococcus senegalensis KCTC 15435 (96.3%). Whole-genome sequence analysis determined that the DNA G+C content of strain AGMB00486 was 30.1 mol%, and the genome size, numbers of tRNA and rRNA genes were 2,268,866 bp, 47 and 8, respectively. The average nucleotide identity values between strain AGMB00486 and the three related type strains were 77.0, 77.4 and 77.2%, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids (> 10%) of strain AGMB00486 were C, C and C DMA. Accordingly, these distinct phenotypic and phylogenetic properties revealed that strain AGMB00486 represents a novel species, for which the name Anaerococcus faecalis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AGMB00486 (= KCTC 15945 = CCTCC AB 202009).
Topics: Animals; Bacterial Typing Techniques; DNA, Bacterial; Fatty Acids; Feces; Firmicutes; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Phospholipids; Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Swine
PubMed: 33987692
DOI: 10.1007/s00284-021-02497-7