Enterococci were frequently considered to be commensal organism and were ignored when isolated in clinical laboratory. But recently due to its capability of causing variety of infections, especially in hospitalized patients and difference in antimicrobial sensitivity of each species to varying antibiotics the present study wasundertaken with a view at characterizing the clinical isolates of enterococcus, recovered from the cases of urinary tract infections (UTI). A total of 59 Enterococci were isolated from UTI patient for a period of 1 year. In the present study it was the 3rd leading organism causing UTI. They were speciated by an identification system based on the phenotypic characteristics of enterococcus species and their antimicrobial sensitivity pattern was determined. Most of the isolates were E.faecalis 42(71.18%) followed by E.faecium accounted for 10(16.94%),E.avium 1(2.43%), E.raff 1(2.43%) and 5(8.47%) remained unidentified. E.faecium showed increased resistance to amoxicillin (90%), co-trimoxazole (80%), ciprofloxacin (70%), gentamycin (80%), ceftriaxone (90%), and cefuroxime (80%). Most of the E.faecalis was resistant to amoxicillin (66.66%), cotrimoxazole (71.42%), ciprofloxacin (76.19%), gentamycin (71.42%), ceftriaxone (64.28%) and cefuroxime (80.95%). Multidrug-resistant enterococci are emerging as a leading nosocomial uropathogen. Identification of species along with knowledge of the antimicrobial resistance profile may ultimately contribute to development of strategies for prevention and to formulate treatment guidelines for infections caused by enterococci. Bangladesh J Med Microbiol 2014; 08 (01): 16-20

Conventional upper-intestinal endoscopy is usually performed to diagnose Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) associated diseases, using gastric mucosa from the biopsy. The objective of our study was to identify the prevalence of H. pylori and its relation with endoscopic findings and histopathological features in dyspeptic adult patients. Gastroduodenal biopsy specimens were collected from 143 adult dyspeptic outpatients who attended the Department of Gastroenterology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), for endoscopy. H. pylori was identified by rapid urease test (RUT), ureC gene PCR, and histological staining (Giemsa). The study population was divided into H. pylori-positive cases (47; 32.9%) and H. pylori-negative cases (96; 67.1%), based on the case definitions used in the study. The highest rate of H. pylori infection was found in the 41–50 years age group (25.5%). Endoscopically, 101 (97.1%) dyspeptic patients had gastritis, with the majority of H. pylori infections found among histopathologically diagnosed duodenal ulcer patients. Endoscopic findings were significantly correlated with histological findings (p < 0.001). Significant correlations between endoscopic and histopathological findings were observed. Early detection and prompt treatment of H. pylori infection are essential for the prevention of serious complications.

The objective of this study was to measure gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) expression in endometrial tissue and/or aspirate from suspected genital tuberculosis patients with ectopic pregnancy and infertility in Bangladesh. A total 78 women of clinically suspected genital tuberculosis patients were enrolled as study population. These patients underwent manual vaccum aspiration (MVA) procedure, and endometrial tissues and/or aspirates were collected. Ziehl -Neelsen staining (Z-N staining) and Lowen–Stein Jensen (L-J) culture were done to detect Mycobacterium. The study participants were categorized as genital tuberculosis positive cases, genital tuberculosis negative cases and presumptive for tuberculosis cases based on the case definition used in this study. TNF-α and IFN-γ were measured by ELISA. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS (version-22). Out of 78 participants, pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α were significantly increased in TB positive patients than TB negative patients (p < 0.05). IFN-γ value of TB positive patients (41.26 ± 41.05) was higher than TB negative (22.94 ± 44.51) patients. TNF-α value (44.31 ± 64.22) of TB positive patients was higher than TB negative (15.86 ± 41.45) patients. IFN-γ and TNF-α value of presumptive for tuberculosis cases were not statistically significant. According to ROC analysis, cut off value for IFN-γ was 23.5 and for TNF-α was 10 with highest sensitivity and specificity of 66.7%, 89.3%, and 66.7% and 73.1% respectively. IFN-γ and TNF-α were significantly higher in TB positive patients and it may act as a potential biomarker for diagnosis of genital tuberculosis.

Introduction Early and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is central to ensuring the proper treatment and curbing the transmission of the disease. Despite the significant burden, the diagnosis of peripheral lymph node(LN)TB, the most prevalent form of extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), has been challenging in low resource settings. To meet the existing needs, the Mobile-TB-Lab study set out to evaluate two innovative approaches, including thermal imaging and recombinase-aided amplification assay (RAA) in Minoo for point-of-need diagnosis of LNTB. The synergy of these index tests is expected to pave the way for rapid detection of EPTB in resource-constrained settings. Methods and analysis Mobile-TB-Lab is a multicountry diagnostic evaluation study to be performed in Bangladesh and Uganda. Under this protocol, a total of 200 suspected EPTB patients with cervical lymphadenitis will be enrolled from tertiary healthcare facilities in Bangladesh and Uganda. Each participant will be subjected to laboratory investigations including microscopy, real-time PCR, cytology, culture and Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra with the tissue sample following fine-needle aspiration (FNA). As the index tests, thermal imaging will be performed before performing the FNA, and the leftover aspirate will be used to perform RAA in the Minoo device. The diagnostic efficiency of the index tests will be determined against a composite reference standard based on the laboratory methods. Besides, latent class analysis will be performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the index tests. Finally, health economic evaluation will be performed to determine the cost-effectiveness of the investigative methods. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol (PR-23031) has been approved by the research review committee (RRC) and the ethical review committee (ERC) under the institutional review board (IRB) of icddr,b in Bangladesh. In Uganda, the study protocol has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University under reference number IDI-REC-2023–62 and approval from the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) under reference number HS3494ES. All the study materials and procedures to be used for the enrolment of the participants have been approved by the ethical review committee. The study will be performed according to the declaration of Helsinki and the International Council for Harmonisation–Good Clinical Practice to ensure the participants’ rights, safety and well-being. The findings from this study will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant national and international meetings.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease that involves cytokines in its pathogenesis. This study is aimed at investigating if gene polymorphisms in cytokines like IL-17, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-12 affect RA susceptibility and severity in the Bangladeshi population. This was a cross-sectional comparative study that included 40 diagnosed RA patients according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria 2010, who were free from other rheumatological diseases, and 40 healthy subjects for comparison. The study used PCR-RFLP to determine the IL-17, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-12 cytokine gene polymorphisms. Patients had a mean age of 37.22 ± 6.70 years. Among the patients, 31 were female and 9 were male. The mean disease duration was 18.11 ± 7.39 months. The study found that rheumatoid arthritis patients with the IL-17F (7488 A/G) polymorphism with GG genotype ( P = 0.006 , OR = 8.56 , 95% CI = 1.77 − 41.33 ) and IL-12B (1188 A/C) polymorphism with AC ( P = 0.012 , OR = 3.69 , 95% CI = 1.43 − 9.53 ) and CC ( P = 0.013 , OR = 7.58 , 95% CI = 1.56 − 36.88 ) genotypes were significantly associated with disease risk. Furthermore, patients with the IL-17F (7488) GG genotype and IL-12B (1188) AC and CC genotypes had higher rheumatoid arthritis disease severity and activity parameters. The study found no significant association between polymorphisms involving IL-4 (590 C/T) and IL-6 (174 G/C) genes and rheumatoid arthritis disease risk in the Bangladeshi population. Gene polymorphisms in cytokines IL-17F (7488 A/G) and IL-12B (1188 A/C) can predict disease susceptibility and severity in Bangladeshi rheumatoid arthritis patients.