[Microflora of peripheral blood obtained from patients with infective endocarditis.]

Infective endocarditis is a serious inflammatory disease associated with damage of heart valves and other parts of endocardium. This study included 91 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of «infectious endocarditis» and hospitalized at the Research Institute of Complex Problems of Cardiovascular Disease (Kemerovo, Russia) from 2010 to 2015. The determination of the spectrum of microorganisms in the samples of patients' peripheral blood was carried out using the PCR method using reagents produced by Lyteh Ltd. (Moscow, Russia) allowing detect Staphylococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus agalacticae, Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Proteus spp., Haemophilus influenza, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium in the samples of biological material. Statistical analysis was performed in the StatSoft STATISTICA 10 software. 83.5% of patients were characterized by presence Staphylococcus spp. in the peripheral blood; the other pathogens were detected much less often (from six cases of enterococci detection to one case of Streptococcus agalacticae and Proteus spp.). In nine patients, none of the analyzed pathogens was detected, and a number of patients were characterized by the simultaneous presence of several pathogens. There was no reliable data on the difference in microflora structure depending on sex, drug addiction, the type of infective endocarditis and the damaged valve. It was established that the results of PCR of peripheral blood samples and microbiological examination of the tissues of damaged valves that were removed during cardiac surgery, differ significantly. The obtained results testify to the need for more in-depth studies including PCR analysis of peripheral blood samples, flushing from damaged valves, and also homogenized valve tissue samples, which will allow us to obtain more detailed data and conclude that PCR can be used as a diagnostic test for early detection microbiological agent as causative.

Reduction in diversity of the colonic mucosa associated bacterial microflora in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The intestinal bacterial microflora plays an important role in the aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As most of the colonic bacteria cannot be identified by culture techniques, genomic technology can be used for analysis of the composition of the microflora.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The mucosa associated colonic microflora of 57 patients with active inflammatory bowel disease and 46 controls was investigated using 16S rDNA based single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) fingerprint, cloning experiments, and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

RESULTS

Full length sequencing of 1019 clones from 16S rDNA libraries (n = 3) revealed an overall bacterial diversity of 83 non-redundant sequences-among them, only 49 known bacterial species. Molecular epidemiology of the composition of the colonic microflora was investigated by SSCP. Diversity of the microflora in Crohn's disease was reduced to 50% compared with controls (21.7 v 50.4; p<0.0001) and to 30% in ulcerative colitis (17.2 v 50.4; p<0.0001). The reduction in diversity in inflammatory bowel disease was due to loss of normal anaerobic bacteria such as Bacteroides species, Eubacterium species, and Lactobacillus species, as revealed by direct sequencing of variable bands and confirmed by real time PCR. Bacterial diversity in the Crohn's group showed no association with CARD15/NOD2 status.

CONCLUSIONS

Mucosal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease is associated with loss of normal anaerobic bacteria. This effect is independent of NOD2/CARD15 status of patients.