No Abstract Available.
Gardnerella vaginalis* ; Gardnerella* ; Vaginosis, Bacterial*

No Abstract Available.
Gardnerella vaginalis* ; Gardnerella* ; Vaginosis, Bacterial*

BACKGROUND: There are several media for culture of Malassezia spp., such as Leeming & Notman (LN) medium, modified Leeming & Notman (mLN) medium, Dixon's medium and modified Dixon's medium etc. It is known that Malassezia spp. grow well in these media in general, but the kind and amounts of their ingredients are various and un-uniform according to researchers. Author propose the new and transparent BHI based medium for the optimal growth of Malassezia spp. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to design the simple and transparent BHI based medium and find essential ingredients for the growth of M. globosa and M. obtusa. METHODS: The colony size of eight standard strains (M. dermatis, M. furfur, M. globosa, M. japonica, M. obtusa, M. sloofiae, M. sympodialis, M. yamatoensis) on the modified BHI (mBHI) agar media with different ingredients was observed by naked eye after seven day culture. The compositions of mBHI medium were as follows; mBHI-1 was supplemented with 0.7% dextrose, 1.5% Tween 80, 1% glycerol to BHI medium, mBHI-2 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 40 to mBHI-1 instead of Tween 80, mBHI-3 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 60 to mBHI-1 instead of Tween 80, mBHI-4 was added with 0.8% bile salts to mBHI-1. mBHI-5 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 60 to mBHI-4 instead of Tween 80, and mBHI-6 was supplemented with 1.5% Tween 40 to mBHI-4 instead of Tween 80. pH of six mBHI media was all adjusted to 6.5. RESULTS: M. furfur & M. japonica were grown well on mBHI-1 agar, but M. globosa & M. obtusa were not grown and others grown poorly. M. globosa & M. obtusa were not grown on mBHI-1 & mBHI-4 containing Tween 80 as lipid source, but others grown on all mBHI media. The media that all eight Malassezia strains grew well were slightly turbid mBHI-5 & transparent mBHI-6 medium. CONCLUSIONS: M. globosa & M. obtusa need glycerol and bile salts as well as Tween 60 or 40 instead of Tween 80 for growth. M. furfur & M. japonica need not bile salts for growth. Author proposes the transparent modified BHI medium supplemented with 0.7% dextrose, 1.5% Tween 40, 1% glycerol and 0.8% bile salts (mBHI-6) as new standard medium for culture of eight Malassezia species.
Agar ; Bile Acids and Salts ; Glucose ; Glycerol ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Malassezia* ; Polysorbates

Two Gram-positive rod strains isolated from the healthy vagina of a woman were tested for the possibility as probiotics. One strain was identified as Steroidobacter denitrificans (YH1) and the other as Lactobacillus crispatus (YH2) by 16S rRNA partial sequencing. The Casman agar and Man-Rogosa-Sharpe (MRS) agar were mixed in same quantity, supplemented with 5% human rbc lysate (CMB agar). The Wilkins-Chalgren agar and MRS agar were mixed in same quantity (WCM agar). Gardnerella vaginalis was cultured in Casman broth, supplemented with 5% human rbc lysate and 1,000 x-diluted with normal saline. Bacteroides fragilis, Mobiluncus mulieris and Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus were cultured in Wilkins-Chalgren anaerobe broth and 2,000x-diluted. S. denitrificans YH1 and L. crispatus YH2 were cultured in MRS broth anaerobically and 100x-diluted. The diluted suspensions of B. fragilis, M. mulieris and P. asaccharolyticus were inoculated on WCM agar and G. vaginalis on CMB agar by cotton swabs. Ten microl aliquots of YH1 and YH2 were inoculated on the center of WCM agar and CMB agar. The growth inhibition zone diameters of B. fragilis, G. vaginalis, M. mulieris and P. asaccharolyticus by YH1 were 35 mm, 35 mm, 25 mm and 60 mm. The inhibition diameters by YH2 were 25 mm, 30 mm, 20 mm and 40 mm, respectively. These results implicate that S. denitrificans YH1 can be the stronger probiotics for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis than L. crispatus, compared inhibition zone diameters by YH1 and YH2.
Agar ; Bacteria* ; Bacteroides fragilis ; Female ; Gardnerella vaginalis ; Humans ; Lactobacillus ; Mobiluncus ; Peptostreptococcus ; Probiotics ; Suspensions ; Vagina* ; Vaginosis, Bacterial*

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most frequent vaginal disease being apt to relapse. The growth inhibition effect of the mixture of citric acid (CA) and trisodium phosphate (TSP) on BV causative bacteria and probiotics was measured. Gardnerella vaginalis was reduced to zero in WCCT-1 (CA 0.25% and TSP 0.55% in Wilkins-Chalgren broth), 2.0 x 10(4)/ml in WCCT-2 (CA 0.5% and TSP 0.8% in WC), and 3.3 x 10(3)/ml in WCCT-3 (CA 1.0% and TSP 2.6% in WC) comparing with 1.3 x 10(5)/ml in WC after 48 h. Bacteroides fragilis was reduced to 6.0 x 10(3)/ml in WCCA (CA 0.34% in WC), 2.3 x 10(2)/ml in WCCT (CA 0.5% and TSP 0.2% in WC), 7.0 x 10(3)/ml in WCHCl (HCl in WC) after 48 h. Mobiluncus mulieris was reduced to 1.08 x 10(4)/ml in WCCA, 1.03 x 10(3)/ml in WCCT, and 10 ea/ml in WCHCl after 48 h. Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus was completely inhibited in WCCA, WCCT, and WCHCl after 24 h. Probiotics, Steroidobacter denitrificans YH1 (3.4 x 10(7)/ml) and Lactobacillus crispatus YH2 (2.7 x 10(6)/ml), grew to 1.25 x 10(8)/ml and 2.6 x 10(7)/ml in MRSCA (CA 1.0% in MRS), 1.8 x 10(7)/ml and 4.6 x 10(6)/ml in MRSCT (CA 1.5% and TSP 0.58% in MRS), 1.2 x 10(8)/ml and 2.3 x 10(7)/ml in MRSHCl after 48 h, respectively. These results mean that the CA-TSP mixture can be used as the useful vaginal pH controller, growth inhibitor on BV causative bacteria, and an efficient means for settlement of probiotics.
Bacteria* ; Bacteroides fragilis ; Citric Acid* ; Gardnerella vaginalis ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Lactobacillus ; Mobiluncus ; Peptostreptococcus ; Probiotics ; Recurrence ; Vaginal Diseases ; Vaginosis, Bacterial*

"Dual LAD" was defined as the early bifurcation of the proximal LAD into two vessels : a short LAD which remained in the anterior interventricular sulcus and does not reach the apex, and a long LAD which leaves the anterior interventricular sulcus only to return to the distal sulcus and continue to the apex. Recognition of "Dual LAD" is essential to prevent errors of interpretation of the coronary arteriogram and for planning of optimal surgical therapy. We report 2 cases of "Dual LAD" with the review of the literatures.
Coronary Vessels*

No abstract available.
Amniotic Fluid* ; Female ; Iron* ; Meconium* ; Staphylococcus aureus* ; Staphylococcus*

No abstract available.
Amniotic Fluid* ; Female ; Staphylococcus aureus* ; Staphylococcus*

Among 104 patients who visited a local clinic with increased, bad-smelling vaginal discharge, twenty-nine women (27.9%) were found to have bacterial vaginosis (BV) according to the Amsel's composite clinical criteria (homogeneous thin gray discharge, positive amine test, vaginal pH over 4.5, positivity of clue cell by Gram stain). The specificity, sensitivity and positive and negative predictive values of the Amsel's composite clinical criteria were estimated in relation to the G. vaginalis isolation rate. Fifty-two strains of G. vaginalis (50%) were isolated from vaginal swabs taken from 104 patients. The sensitivities of clue cells and G. vaginalis isolation were both 96.6% (28) in the 29 BV patients. The specificities of clue cells and the presence of G. vaginalis were 85.3% and 68.0%, respectively. But the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the combination of clue cells and morphotype of G. vaginalis were 93.1%, 92.0%, 81.8% and 97.2%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of amine test were 89.7%, 98.7%, 96.2% and 94.9% in the 29 BV patients. Among 52 strains of G. vaginalis, 34 strains (87.2%) were isolated from the 39 clue cell positive samples and the remaining 18 (27.7%) from the 65 clue cell negative cases. Twenty-four strains (92.3%) were isolated from 26 amine test positive samples and the remaining 28 (35.9%) from 78 amine test negative cases. According to these results, it seems that the amine test is a useful test for the diagnosis of BV. However, we propose the combination criteria of clue cells and G. vaginalis morphotype in vaginal discharge should give more objective results than the amine test for the diagnosis of BV. The sensitivity and specificity of vaginal pH over 4.5 were 86.2% and 57.3%, and those of homogeneous discharge 93.1% and 65.3%, respectively. These two criteria were not as specific as clue cells and amine test for the diagnosis of BV. These results suggest that BV could be diagnosed more simply and precisely with the finding of clue cells spotted with Gram variable polymorphic bacteria by means of Gram stain of vaginal wall swabs.
Bacteria ; Diagnosis* ; Female ; Gardnerella vaginalis* ; Gardnerella* ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Vaginal Discharge ; Vaginosis, Bacterial*

BACKGROUND: We developed a new disposable anaerobic culture system, namely, the Quick anaero-system, for easy culturing of obligate anaerobes. METHODS: Our system consists of 3 components: 1) new disposable anaerobic gas pack, 2) disposable culture-envelope and sealer, and 3) reusable stainless plate rack with mesh containing 10 g of palladium catalyst pellets. To evaluate the efficiency of our system, we used 12 anaerobic bacteria. We prepared 2 sets of ten-fold serial dilutions of the 12 anaerobes, and inoculated these samples on Luria-Bertani (LB) broth and LB blood agar plate (LB-BAP) (BD Diagnostic Systems, USA). Each set was incubated in the Quick anaero-system (DAS Tech, Korea) and BBL GasPak jar with BD GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System (BD Diagnostic Systems) at 35-37degrees C for 48 hr. The minimal inoculum size showing visible growth of 12 anaerobes when incubated in both the systems was compared. RESULTS: The minimal inoculum size showing visible growth for 2 out of the 12 anaerobes in the LB broth and 9 out of the 12 anaerobes on LB-BAP was lower for the Quick anaero-system than in the BD GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System. The mean time (+/-SD) required to achieve absolute anaerobic conditions of the Quick anaero-system was 17 min and 56 sec (+/-3 min and 25 sec). CONCLUSIONS: The Quick anaero-system is a simple and effective method of culturing obligate anaerobes, and its performance is superior to that of the BD GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System.
Bacteria, Anaerobic/*growth &development ; Bacteriological Techniques/instrumentation/methods ; Culture Media/chemistry ; Gases/chemistry ; Palladium/chemistry ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic