Research Publications (Food Safety)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety review revealed that the use of fluoroquinolones (FQs) is linked with disabling and potentially permanent serious adverse effects. These adverse effects compromise the tendons, muscles, joints, nerves, and central nervous system of the human body. The purpose of the study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) caused by FQs in comparison with other antibiotics used.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are opportunistic pathogens and are commonly found in polymicrobial biofilm-associated diseases, namely chronic wounds. Their co-existence in a biofilm contributes to an increased tolerance of the biofilm to antibiotics. Combined treatments of bacteriophages and antibiotics have shown a promising antibiofilm activity, due to the profound differences in their mechanisms of action.

In recent years, the incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infections has increased. Additionally, resistance of C. difficile to frequently used antibiotics is rising. To improve our understanding of C. difficile, there is a need for molecular characterization of different strains and antibiotic resistance testing. We investigated the efficacy of GenoType CDiff kit (Hain Lifesciences) in identification of C. difficile and its various strains in northern Israel.

The purpose was to explore the optimal dosage regimen of colistin using Monte Carlo simulations, for the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli based on PK/PD targets in critically ill patients. A total of 116 carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae and E. coli were obtained from various clinical specimens at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.

Immune suppressed renal transplant patients are more prone to developing oral tissue alterations due to medications associated with a pleiotropic set of side effects involving the oral cavity. Drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO) is the most commonly encountered side effect resulting from administration of calcineurin inhibitors such as cyclosporine-A (CsA), the standard first-line treatment for graft rejection prevention in transplant patients.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) have become a public health threat worldwide. There are three major mechanisms by which Enterobacteriaceae become resistant to carbapenems: enzyme production, efflux pumps and porin mutations. Of these, enzyme production is the main resistance mechanism.

There is a scarcity of information on antibiotic resistance in goats. To understand shedding of resistant Escherichia coli in pastured goats, we collected fecal samples from a mixed age cohort over a one-year period. No antibiotic had been used on the study animals one year prior to and during the study period. Resistant isolates were detected in all age groups and prevalence in goat kids was significantly higher than adults; 43–48% vs. 8–25% respectively.

Goat milk has been frequently implicated in staphylococcal food poisoning. The potential risk of raw goat milk contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in Shaanxi province of China is still not well documented. This study investigated the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, as well as virulence-related genes of S. aureus from raw goat milk samples in Shaanxi, China. A total of 68 S. aureus isolates were cultured from 289 raw goat milk.

Carbapenems are considered last-resort antimicrobials, especially for treating infections involving multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. In recent years, extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative bacteria have become widespread in hospitals, community settings, and the environment, reducing the range of effective therapeutic alternatives.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae are a significant threat to public health, and a major resistance determinant that promotes this phenotype is the production of the OXA-48 carbapenemase. The activity of OXA-48 towards carbapenems is a puzzling phenotype as its hydrolytic activity against doripenem is non-detectable.

Bacillus cereus, a Gram-positive bacterium, is an agent of food poisoning. B. cereus is closely related to Bacillus anthracis, a deadly pathogen for humans, and Bacillus thuringenesis, an insect pathogen. Due to the growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, alternative antimicrobials are needed. One such alternative is peptidoglycan hydrolase enzymes, which can lyse Gram-positive bacteria when exposed externally.

We assessed the prevalence of antibiotic resistant and antibiotic resistance genes for 49 Tetragenococcus halophilus (T. halophilus) strains isolated from Xuawei ham in China.

Actinomycetes are remarkable producers of compounds essential for human and veterinary medicine as well as for agriculture. The genomes of those microorganisms possess several sets of genes (biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC)) encoding pathways for the production of the valuable secondary metabolites.

Colistin (polymyxin E) is a membrane-destabilizing antibiotic used against Gram-negative bacteria. We have recently reported that the outer membrane prevents the uptake of antibacterial chlorophyllin into Gram-negative cells. In this study, we used sub-toxic concentrations of colistin to weaken this barrier for a combination treatment of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium with chlorophyllin.

For the past few decades, there has been limited progress in the development of novel antibacterials. Previously, we postulated that the gut microbiota of animals residing in polluted environments are a forthcoming supply of antibacterials. Among various species, the water monitor lizard is an interesting species that feeds on organic waste and the carcass of wild animals.