OBJECTIVETo investigate the distribution and drug resistance spectrum of clinical bacterial and Candida isolates.

METHODSMost of the bacterial isolates were identified using automated BD Phoenix, and a few with K-B method carried out manually. Candida isolates were identified by color-display plate and K-B method.

RESULTSThe most common isolates in the 2478 strains were P. aeruginosa (15.6%), E. coli (11.5%), C. albicans (9.6%), K. pneumoniae (9.3%), S. aureu (8.2%), and S. epidermidis (7.5%). In gram-negative isolates, the antibiotics with the lowest resistance rate were meraopenem (14.4%), cefoperazone/Sulbactam (14.8%), Imipenem (21.9%), piperacillin/tazobactam (27.4%), ceftazidime (30.0%), amikacin (31.1%), and cefepime (33.1%). The detection rate of E.coli and K. pneumoniae isolates producing extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBLs) were 47.4% and 37.3% respectively. In gram-positive isolates, the antibiotics with the lowest resistance rate were vancomycin (0.9%), teicoplanin (1.1%), nitrofurantoin (6.9%), amikacin (20.1%), chloramphenicol (30.7%), and cefoperazone/sulbactam (31.5%). The methecillin-resistant rates of S. aureu , S. epidermidis, and S. haemolyticus were 57.1%, 65.0%, and 66.0%. For Candida isolates, the most sensitive antibiotics were amphotericin B (0.3%), nystain (0.3%), itraconazole (5.6%), fluconazole (9.4%), and fluorocytosine (9.4%).

CONCLUSIONThe results suggest high rate of ESBL production and oxacillin resistance of the bacteria isolated in the hospital. More rational use of antimicrobial agents is crucial for reducing the drug-resistance of the bacteria, and effective measures must be taken to reduce dissemination of multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Anti-Infective Agents ; pharmacology ; Bacteria ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Candida ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Drug Resistance, Fungal ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Oxacillin ; pharmacology ; beta-Lactamases ; biosynthesis

BACKGROUND: Although amphotericin B (AMB) has a wide spectrum of activity that encompasses the majority of yeast isolates, there have been recent reports suggesting that some yeast isolates exhibit decreased susceptibility to AMB. However, in vitro AMB susceptibility of yeast species isolates from blood cultures in Korea has not been fully surveyed. METHODS: A total of 92 bloodstream yeast isolates from four Korean hospitals, representing 10 Candida species (69 isolates) and 4 non-Candida yeast species (23 isolates) were evaluated. AMB minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by two methods: the CLSI method and Etest. AMB minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) were also determined. RESULTS: For all 92 yeast isolates, the CLSI method generated a restricted range of MICs (0.125 to 4 microgram/mL) with 3.3% exhibiting MICs > or =2 microgram/mL, and the corresponding MFC values ranged from 0.25 to 8 microgram/mL with 26.1% showing MFCs > or =2 microgram/mL. Etest produced the widest distribution of MICs, ranging from 0.03 to 32 microgram/mL. High AMB MICs (> or =0.38 microgram/mL) by Etest was observed in 34.8% of the isolates: Candida krusei (100%), Candida rugosa (100%), Trichosporon asashii (100%), Candida glabrata (82%), and Yarrowia lipolytica (75%). Etest disclosed that all isolates of Candida guilliermondii, Candida lusitaniae, Candida pelliculosa and Kodamaea ohmeri were highly susceptible to AMB (MIC < or =0.19 microgram/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that Etest may be more useful to discriminate yeast isolates with reduced susceptibility to AMB, and some isolates of less common yeast species from Korea may have decreased AMB susceptibilities.
Amphotericin B/*pharmacology ; Antifungal Agents/*pharmacology ; Candida/drug effects/isolation & purification ; Candidiasis/microbiology ; Culture Media ; Humans ; Korea ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Yeasts/*drug effects/isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo investigate distribution, drug resistance and risk factors of pathogens isolated from septicemic patients in a hospital in the past 6 years.

METHODSMost of the bacterial isolates were identified with BD Phoenix, and a few isolates were identified manually and with K-B method. Candida isolates were identified with color display plates and K-B method. WHONET5.4 software was used for analysis.

RESULTSThe common bacteria isolated form the blood included E. coli, P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and S. aureu. The gram-negative bacillus from the blood exhibited relatively low resistance to such antibiotics as cefoperazone/sulbactam, imipenem, amikacin, piperacillin/tazobactam, and ceftazidime, and the incidences of E.coli and K. pneumoniae isolates producing extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBLs) ranged between 33.3% and 34.9% and between 32.9% and 36.0%, respectively. The gram-positive coccus from blood showed a sensitivity rate of 100.0% to vancomycin and low resistant rates to amikacin and chloramphenicol; the methicillin-resistant rates of S. aureu and coagulase-negative staphylococcus were 26.9%-35.5% and 72.7%-74.3%, respectively. The risk factors of septicemia included hospital stay for over 5 days, venous catheterization, surgeries, puncture, oxygen therapy, urine tract catheterization, and chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONBlood culture can be of importance in patients with septicemia, and the use of antibiotics should be carefully weighed according to the results of bacterial culture and sensitivity tests of the pathogens isolated from the blood.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Escherichia coli ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Female ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Infant ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Male ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Middle Aged ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Risk Factors ; Sepsis ; microbiology ; Staphylococcus aureus ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Young Adult

INTRODUCTIONFungaemia carries with it high mortality rates and appropriate as well as timely antifungal therapy has been shown to be life saving.

MATERIALS AND METHODSWe studied the invitro activities of antifungal agents using the Etest method, against 100 Candida isolates from blood cultures, 10 Cryptococcus isolates from blood or cerebrospinal fluid and 50 mould isolates from various clinically significant sites of patients in Singapore General Hospital, from June 2004 to December 2006.

RESULTSOverall, the yeasts appeared to have low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for all the 5 antifungal drugs tested except for fluconazole. The overall high MIC90 values of the moulds against the azoles were largely attributed to the non-Aspergillus moulds. Posaconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole and caspofungin appear effective against local strains of Aspergillus species, although there are no interpretive breakpoints.

CONCLUSIONSThe results show that the local fungal strains studied appear to be susceptible to the usual antifungal drugs recommended in the literature.

Antifungal Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Candida ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Candidiasis ; microbiology ; Cryptococcosis ; microbiology ; Cryptococcus ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Fungemia ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Fungi ; drug effects ; Hospitals, Public ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Singapore ; Yeasts ; drug effects

BACKGROUND: At present, the clinical breakpoints (CBPs) of both fluconazole and voriconazole are available only for 3 common Candida species in the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) methods. Epidemiological cutoff values (ECVs) were recently applied to both methods to detect the emergence of acquired resistance (i.e., non-wild-type isolates) among 5 common Candida species. METHODS: We performed a nationwide study to determine the fluconazole and voriconazole susceptibility of Candida bloodstream isolates (BSIs) using both the CLSI and EUCAST methods. A total of 423 BSIs of 5 Candida species were collected from 8 hospitals. The azole susceptibilities were assessed on the basis of the species-specific CBPs and ECVs. RESULTS: Of the 341 BSIs of 3 common Candida species (i.e., C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis), 0.3% and 0.9%, 0.0% and 1.5% of isolates were categorized as fluconazole and voriconazole resistant according to the CLSI and EUCAST CBPs, respectively. Of 423 total BSIs, 1.4% and 2.6% had fluconazole minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) exceeding the ECVs according to the CLSI and EUCAST, respectively; 1.0% and 2.1% had voriconazole MICs exceeding the ECVs according to the CLSI and EUCAST, respectively. Categorical agreement between the methods using ECVs was 98.3% for fluconazole and 98.3% for voriconazole. CONCLUSIONS: The EUCAST and CLSI methods using ECVs provide highly concordant results. Moreover, non-wild-type isolates with possibly acquired azole resistance were rare among the BSIs of 5 common Candida species in Korea.
Antifungal Agents/*pharmacology ; Candida/*drug effects/isolation & purification ; Candidiasis/epidemiology/microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Fungal/drug effects ; Fluconazole/*pharmacology ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Pyrimidines/*pharmacology ; Republic of Korea ; Triazoles/*pharmacology

BACKGROUND: At present, the clinical breakpoints (CBPs) of both fluconazole and voriconazole are available only for 3 common Candida species in the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) methods. Epidemiological cutoff values (ECVs) were recently applied to both methods to detect the emergence of acquired resistance (i.e., non-wild-type isolates) among 5 common Candida species. METHODS: We performed a nationwide study to determine the fluconazole and voriconazole susceptibility of Candida bloodstream isolates (BSIs) using both the CLSI and EUCAST methods. A total of 423 BSIs of 5 Candida species were collected from 8 hospitals. The azole susceptibilities were assessed on the basis of the species-specific CBPs and ECVs. RESULTS: Of the 341 BSIs of 3 common Candida species (i.e., C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis), 0.3% and 0.9%, 0.0% and 1.5% of isolates were categorized as fluconazole and voriconazole resistant according to the CLSI and EUCAST CBPs, respectively. Of 423 total BSIs, 1.4% and 2.6% had fluconazole minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) exceeding the ECVs according to the CLSI and EUCAST, respectively; 1.0% and 2.1% had voriconazole MICs exceeding the ECVs according to the CLSI and EUCAST, respectively. Categorical agreement between the methods using ECVs was 98.3% for fluconazole and 98.3% for voriconazole. CONCLUSIONS: The EUCAST and CLSI methods using ECVs provide highly concordant results. Moreover, non-wild-type isolates with possibly acquired azole resistance were rare among the BSIs of 5 common Candida species in Korea.
Antifungal Agents/*pharmacology ; Candida/*drug effects/isolation & purification ; Candidiasis/epidemiology/microbiology ; Drug Resistance, Fungal/drug effects ; Fluconazole/*pharmacology ; Humans ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Pyrimidines/*pharmacology ; Republic of Korea ; Triazoles/*pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo screen antifungal activity of endophytes from Pseudolarix kaempferi.

METHODEndophytes from P. kaempferi were separated. By means of microdilution method, antifungal active endophytes were fast screened by Pyricularia oryzae P-2b model, and activity of endophytes against pathogenic fungus was studied.

RESULT44.8% of endophytes showed activity against P. oryzae P-2b in Pseudolarix kaempferi. Among them JJ314, JJ323 introduced formation of characteristic beads and swellings on the growing hyphae, JJ324 inhibited the conidia germination. They all showed activity against Trichophyton rubrum, Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida albicans.

CONCLUSIONEndophytes from P. kaempferi are a potential resource for the development of antifungal agent.

Antifungal Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Cryptococcus ; drug effects ; Fungi ; chemistry ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Mitosporic Fungi ; drug effects ; Pinaceae ; microbiology ; Plants, Medicinal ; microbiology ; Symbiosis ; Trichophyton ; drug effects

AIM: To investigate the chemical and bioactive constituents from the stems and leaves of Micromelum integerrimum. METHOD: The chemical constituents were isolated and purified by silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and HPLC. Their structures were mainly elucidated on the basis of extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Their cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activities were tested by the SRB and turbidimetric methods, respectively. RESULTS: Two new phenylpropanoids and two known coumarins were obtained, and their structures were identified as microintegerrin A (1), microintegerrin B (2), scopoletin (3), and scopolin (4). All of the compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines (HeLa, A549, and BGC-823) and for antimicrobial activity against the fungus Candida albicans and the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. CONCLUSION Two new phenylpropanoids 1 and 2 were isolated and identified from the stems and leaves of M. intgerrimum. None of the compounds showed cytotoxic or antimicrobial activity at the tested concentration of 20 μg·mL(-1).
Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Coumarins ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Glucosides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; HeLa Cells ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Phenylpropionates ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Plant Leaves ; Plant Stems ; Rutaceae ; chemistry ; Scopoletin ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Staphylococcus aureus ; drug effects

BACKGROUND: We utilized results from the ARTEMIS DISK Global Antifungal Surveillance Program to evaluate the species distribution and fluconazole and voriconazole susceptibilities of yeast isolates from clinical specimens in South Korea from 2001 to 2007. METHODS: Data were collected on 5,665 yeast isolates from all body sites at three locations. All investigators tested clinical yeast isolates using the CLSI M44-A disk diffusion method. Test plates were automatically read and results were recorded using the BIOMIC image analysis plate reader system (Giles Scientific, USA). Species, drug, zone diameter, susceptibility category, and quality control results were collected quarterly via e-mail for analysis. RESULTS: Candida albicans was the most common isolate, but a progressive increase in non-C. albicans Candida and noncandidal yeast species has been observed in recent years. The overall percentages of isolates in each category (susceptible, susceptible dose dependent, and resistant) were 98.8%, 0.5%, and 0.7% and 99.2%, 0.2%, and 0.6% for fluconazole and voriconazole, respectively. Candida of 3 species exhibited decreased susceptibility to fluconazole (<90% S) in the order of that seen with the resistant (R) species: C. krusei, C. guilliermondii, and C. glabrata. Emerging resistance to fluconazole or voriconazole was documented among isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans, Trichosporon spp., and Rhodotorula spp. CONCLUSIONS: The species distribution and antifungal susceptibilities of yeasts may differ according to specimen type, testing method, hospital, and geographic region. Therefore, further large-scaled, long-term surveillance studies are needed to isolate yeasts and to confirm the species distribution and antifungal susceptibilities of yeast isolates from clinical specimens in Korea.
Antifungal Agents/*pharmacology ; Candida/isolation & purification ; Cryptococcus neoformans/isolation & purification ; Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Tests ; *Drug Resistance, Fungal ; Fluconazole/pharmacology ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Pyrimidines/pharmacology ; Republic of Korea ; Rhodotorula/isolation & purification ; Triazoles/pharmacology ; Trichosporon/isolation & purification ; Yeasts/*drug effects/isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo research the isolation method, identification and screen for bioactivities endophytic fungi from ginkgo.

METHODEndophytic fungi from ginkgo were separated. By means of microdilution method, activities of endophytes against pathogenic fungi were tested. Then, using DPPH, the antioxidant activities were measured.

RESULTNine strains (16.1%) showed antifungal activities against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Trichophyton rubrum and Aspergillus fumigatus. Among these bioactive strains, the growth of T. rubrum was strongly inhibited by T-1-2-1, as the MIC80 was equal to fluconazole, the positive control. Five strains (8.9%) showed antioxidant activities. Among them sample T-3-2-2 and T-6-5-7 showed the strongest antioxidant activities.

CONCLUSIONEndophytic fungi of ginkgo would be potential and rich resources for drug development.

Antifungal Agents ; pharmacology ; Aspergillus fumigatus ; drug effects ; Candida albicans ; drug effects ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; drug effects ; Fluconazole ; pharmacology ; Fungi ; chemistry ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Ginkgo biloba ; microbiology ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Trichophyton ; drug effects