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Intraepithelial bacteria were isolated by the gentamicin protection assay (GPA) from biopsy samples obtained at colonoscopy (colon cancer, n=10 patients; colonic adenoma, n=20; control group, n=20; cancer patients without gastrointestinal tract GIT malignancy, n=10). After a three-month administration of E. faecium M-74 to patients with positive GPA biopsies, 172 biopsy specimens from 60 patients were examined with the GPA. The number of biopsies with intracellular bacteria was significantly higher in adenoma and carcinoma group than in control group (26 vs. 10 %; p=0.004); in cancer patients without GIT malignancy the difference was nonsignificant. E. faecium M-74 was also administered to 5 patients with colonic adenoma; according to a control colonoscopy the number of biopsies with intracellular bacteria was significantly lower after probiotic administration (48 vs. 16 %; p=0.03). A striking prevalence of intraepithelial bacteria was also showed in patients with large bowel adenoma and carcinoma. The administration of probiotic strain M-74 can thus be considered to be an effective and promising method for elimination of pathogenic bacteria in the case of inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential virulence factors (elastase, proteinase, lipase, phospholipase C, alginate) as well as surface properties (hydrophobicity, motility) were determined in 103 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from patients with cancer. Nontypable strains were the dominant group (60%), followed by serotypes O11 (17%), O12 (7%) and O4 (5%). Seventy-one strains (69%) produced high level of elastase (10–60 mg/L), 87% of the strains possessed high activity of proteinase (bacterial) (10–250 mg/L) and 69% of the strains demonstrated higher level of lipase (20–150 U/mL); these elevated levels of enzymes were associated mainly with nontypable strains. On the other hand, 79% of the strains did not produce or produced only a low level of phospholipase C and 60% of isolates did not manifest any or very low production of alginate. Hydrophobicity demonstrated by adherence of the bacteria to xylene was shown by 69% of strains; 94% of strains aggregated with ammonium sulfate. Motility in the range of 31–80 mm was found in 76 strains (74%). The considerable virulence of tested P. aeruginosa strains was confirmed. The nontypable strains manifested the most frequent group with high level of elastase, proteinase, lipase, hydrophobicity and motility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 51 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains had been isolated over a year from patients with tumor diseases in the National Institute of Oncology in Bratislava. All strains were subjected to serotyping; in 45 strains quantitative susceptibility to selected antibiotics was determined by the microdilution method. When comparing susceptibility of individual serotypes, resistance of strains belonging to serotype O12 to a number of β-lactam, aminoglycoside and quinolone antibiotics was found. In addition, resistant strains occurred even among serotype O4 and polyagglutinating strains. The resistant strains as causative agents of nosocomial infections may represent a serious risk particularly for patients of oncological wards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]