Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most important causes of morbidity and health care spending affecting persons of all ages. Bacterial biofilms play an important role in UTIs, responsible for persistent infections leading to recurrences and relapses. UTIs associated with microbial biofilms developed on catheters account for a high percentage of all nosocomial infections and are the most common source of Gram-negative bacteremia in hospitalized patients. The purpose of this mini-review is to present the role of microbial biofilms in the etiology of female UTI and different male prostatitis syndromes, their consequences, as well as the challenges for therapy

Acute bacterial prostatitis is one of the frequent complications of urinary tract infection (UTI). From the approximately 10% of men having prostatitis, 7% experience a bacterial prostatitis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of uropathogens associated with UTIs in older patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and to assess their susceptibility to commonly prescribed antibiotics as well as the relationships between microbial virulence and resistance features. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli was found to be the most frequent bacterial strain isolated from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, followed by Enterococcus spp., Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella spp., Proteus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Serratia marcescens. Increased resistance rates to tetracyclines, quinolones, and sulfonamides were registered. Besides their resistance profiles, the uropathogenic isolates produced various virulence factors with possible implications in the pathogenesis process. The great majority of the uropathogenic isolates revealed a high capacity to adhere to HEp-2 cell monolayer in vitro, mostly exhibiting a localized adherence pattern. Differences in the repertoire of soluble virulence factors that can affect bacterial growth and persistence within the urinary tract were detected. The Gram-negative strains produced pore-forming toxins—such as hemolysins, lecithinases, and lipases—proteases, siderophore-like molecules resulted from the esculin hydrolysis and amylases, while Enterococcus sp. strains were positive only for caseinase and esculin hydrolase. Our study demonstrates that necessity of investigating the etiology and local resistance patterns of uropathogenic organisms, which is crucial for determining appropriate empirical antibiotic treatment in elderly patients with UTI, while establishing correlations between resistance and virulence profiles could provide valuable input about the clinical evolution and recurrence rates of UTI.

This study aimed to determine the allele frequencies and genetic diversity of 21 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci from the Expanded U.S. Core Loci and European Standard Set in the Romanian population. A random sample of 928 unrelated men from all Romanian counties was analyzed using the Investigator 24plex QS and Investigator 24plex GO! Kits (Qiagen). The genotypes were determined, and the allele frequencies were calculated using the STRidER tool. The results provide updated population genetic data for the Romanian population, which is essential for accurate calculation of DNA evidence weight in forensic casework.

Y-chromosomal Short Tandem Repeats (Y-STRs) provide insight into forensic evidence interpretation and male population history. Romania’s position at the crossroads of Europe and Western Asia makes it a key reference population for both domains, yet existing Romanian Y-STR databases are limited in geographic coverage and marker number. We genotyped 928 unrelated Romanian males across all 41 counties and Bucharest at 27 Y-STR loci using the Investigator Argus Y-28 Kit, and modeled haplotype frequencies using the Discrete Laplace (DL) distribution (disclapmix v1.7.5, 17-locus panel; disclapmix2 v0.6.1, 27-locus panel). Discrete Laplace modeling revealed 12 and 14 optimal mixture components for the 17- and 27-locus models, respectively, with median match probabilities of 1 in 1.25 × 10⁷ and 1 in 5.8 × 10¹², reflecting nearly six order-of-magnitude gain in evidential weight. Haplogroup analysis identified 16 Y-lineages; R1a, I2a, E1b1b, J2a, and R1b collectively represent ~80% of the population, and reflect Romania’s layered Steppe, Balkan, and Near Eastern ancestry, with subtle regional gradients between Moldavia, Transylvania, and Muntenia. This dataset provides validated forensic reference data and new insights into the patrilineal genetic structure of the Romanian population.

The rabies virus is a major zoonosis that causes severe nervous disease in humans, leading to paralysis and death. The world’s second anti-rabies center was established in 1888 by Victor Babeș, in Bucharest, where an eponymous strain of rabies was isolated and used to develop a method for immunization. The Babeș strain of the rabies virus was used for over 100 years in Romania to produce a rabies vaccine for human use, based on animal nerve tissue, thus having a proven history of prophylactic use. The present study aimed to sequence the whole genome of the Babeș strain and to explore its genetic relationships with other vaccine strains as well as to characterize its relevant molecular traits. After being adapted for multiplication in cell lines and designated BAB-TMP, 99% of the viral genome was sequenced. The overall organization of the genome is similar to that of other rabies vaccine strains. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the BAB-TMP strain is closely related to the Russian RV-97 vaccine strain, and both seem to have a common ancestor. The nucleoprotein gene of the investigated genome was the most conserved, and the glycoprotein showed several unique amino acid substitutions within the major antigenic sites and linear epitopes.