Paecilotoxin production in clinical or terrestrial isolates of Paecilomyces lilacinus strains

The production of paecilotoxin from various isolates of Paecilomyces lilacinus was studied using three different media and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Alkaline medium was found to be suitable for the production of the toxins. Among 20 strains tested, 19 including four clinical isolates were found to produce the toxins. Production patterns of paecilotoxins were very similar in each strain and the main toxins were A and B.     

Lymphocutaneous Type of Nocardiosis Caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nocardia vinacea</Emphasis> in a Patient with Polymyositis

We report a lymphocutaneous type of nocardiosis caused by Nocardia vinacea. A 62-year-old woman with polymyositis presented with some erythematous swellings and subcutaneous abscesses on her right middle finger and the dorsum of her hand, which had persisted for 2 weeks. Culturing of the excised nodule and pus revealed orange to orange-tan colonies with scanty whitish aerial mycelia. The isolate was identified as N. vinacea on the basis of its biochemical and chemotaxonomic characteristics and the results of molecular biological analysis. In our case, oral minocycline (MINO) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) for 7 weeks did not improve the clinical manifestation, even though in vitro susceptibility testing of the isolate predicted its susceptibility to MINO and TMP-SMX. Treatment with partial surgical excision followed by TMP-SMX and meropenem administration was effective. This is the first reported case of a lymphocutaneous type of nocardiosis caused by N. vinacea.     

Anti-inflammatory activity of superoxide dismutase conjugated with sodium hyaluronate

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) from bovine erythrocytes was conjugated with sodium hyaluronate (HA) with a mean molecular weight of 106 to have greater anti-inflammatory activity in vivo. Amino groups of SOD were coupled with carboxyl groups in the hyaluronate molecule using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide. The HA-SOD conjugate was composed of 1.5 mol of SOD molecule per 1 mol of hyaluronate on the average, and retained 70% of the activity of unmodified SOD. The conjugate was essentially non-immunogenic in mice, and exhibited much higher anti-inflammatory activities than HA or SOD in models of inflammatory diseases such as ischemic oedema of the foot-pad in mice, carrageenin-induced pleurisy and adjuvant arthritis in rats. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

First human case of nocardiosis caused by Nocardia pseudobrasiliensis in Japan

Nocardia sp. IFM 0896, an actinomycete with biochemical characteristics that differed from Nocardia brasiliensis, was isolated from a 71-year-old Japanese man with a history of tuberculosis and cancer. Although the isolate was tentatively identified as N. brasiliensis, the morphological and physiological characteristics of strain IFM 0896 were different from those of N. brasiliensis IFM 0236^T. The results of 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogenies and PCR-RFLP analysis of a heat shock protein revealed that Nocardia sp. IFM 0896 belongs to the species N. pseudobrasiliensis. This is the first clinical isolation report of N. pseudobrasiliensis in Japan.This revised version was published online in October 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nocardia cyriacigeorgica is a significant pathogen responsible for nocardiosis in Japan and Thailand

Nocardia cyriacigeorgica is a recently described species. During routine diagnostic testing of 121 clinical isolates, we found that about one fourth of the strains from Japan (19 isolates) and Thailand (8 isolates), which were identified in our laboratories as N. asteroides, in fact belong to N. cyriacigeorgica. To our knowledge, this is the first report of infection due to N. cyriacigeorgica in Japan and Thailand, and the third report of infection anywhere in the world. Although N. cyriacigeorgica is usually differentiated from other Nocardia species by utilization of glucose and gluconate, we found that it can also be differentiated by a characteristic synergistic effect between imipenem (IPM) and tobramycin (TOB).     

1,2-Silyl-migrative cyclization of vinylsilanes bearing an amino group

In the presence of an acid catalyst, alpha-alkyl-substituted (Z)-vinylsilanes 1, bearing a tosylamino group, were smoothly cyclized to trans-2-alkyl-3-silylpiperidines 2 (1,2-silyl-migration products) and (2R*, 1'S*)-2-(1'-silylalkyl)pyrrolidines 3. The elaboration of the reaction conditions enabled the selective preparation of each cyclized product. The acid-catalyzed cyclization of (Z)-vinylsilane 5, whose methylene tether is shorter than that of 1 by one carbon, formed only the 1,2-silyl-migration product 6 with high trans-selectivity. These cyclizations were found to proceed in a stereospecific manner.     

Characterization of Clinical Isolates of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gordonia</Emphasis> Species in Japanese Clinical Samples During 1998–2008

During 1998–2008, there were 31 strains of Gordonia species isolated from clinical specimens in our laboratory. Our identification of the 31 strains of Gordonia species showed that major pathogenic Gordonia species in Japan were classifiable, respectively into 14 and 13 strains of Gordonia sputi and Gordonia bronchialis. The four remaining strains were identified as three Gordonia species: G. aichiensis (2 strains), and G. terrae (1 strain), and G. otitidis (1 strain). Results of drug susceptibility tests for these 31 strains of Gordonia isolates are reported herein.