• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.212-215
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• 2012

The antimicrobial activity of ursolic acid (UA) and oleanolic acid (OA), both triterpenoid compounds, against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is controversial. We examined the antimicrobial effects of UA and OA against 19 strains of MRSA isolated from Koreans by determining minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC). The data showed that the methicillin-sensitive strain S. aureus KCTC $1621^T$ was more resistant to UA and OA than that of the MRSA strains. The MBC values of UA and OA against MRSA had broad ranges; 4 to 32 ${\mu}g/ml$ and 16 to >256 ${\mu}g/ml$, respectively. It was difficult to understand the different antimicrobial activities of UA and OA among the MRSA strains, because UA and OA antimicrobial mechanisms are unknown. These results indicate that the antimicrobial effects of UA and OA against MRSA are dependent on resistance to UA and OA in each strain.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.486-490
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• 1992

The clinical isolate Staphylococcus aureus SA2 was resistant to ampicillin, Chloramphenicol, clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, methicillin, streptomycin, and tobramycin and harboured more than two kinds of plasmids. Transformation experiment demonstrated that 40.98-kb plasmid(pKH2) encoded resistance to ampicillin, clindamycin, erythromycin, kanamycin, and streptomycin. The cleavage map of a pKH2 was determined by restriction enzyme mapping techniques. Cleavage map is given for BamHI, BglI, BstEII, SalI and XhoI.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.175-180
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• 2017

The objectives of this study were: i) to detect the presence of Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in raw milk, cheese, beef minced meat, and chicken meat samples; ii) to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates; and iii) to determine clonal relation among the isolates by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. Therefore, a total of 160 food samples were randomly collected between August 2014 and May 2015 in Hatay province, located in the southern Turkey. Twenty (12.5%) of the samples were found to be contaminated with S. aureus. A total of 40 isolates from the 20 positive samples were confirmed to be S. aureus by multiplex PCR based on 16S rRNA and nuc gene. The mec A gene was not detected in any of the S. aureus strains. In the present study, 39 out of 40 (97.5%) isolates were found to be resistant to one or more antibiotics. All of isolates were susceptible to gentamicin, oxacillin, and vancomycin. The highest resistance rate was detected in penicillin (95%) and ampicillin (92.5%), followed by tetracycline (30%), erythromycin (20%), ciprofloxacin (12.5%). Nine major patterns were determined by PFGE. In 6 of these patterns, thirty-six strains (90%) had identical PFGE profiles.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.784-789
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• 2016

We evaluated the synergistic antibacterial effect in combination with the chitosan-ferulic acid conjugate (CFA) and β-lactam antibiotics, such as ampicillin, penicillin, and oxacillin, against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) indices. CFA clearly reversed the antibacterial activity of ampicillin, penicillin, and oxacillin against MRSA in the combination mode. Among these antibiotics, the combination of oxacillin-CFA resulted in a ΣFIC_min range of 0.250 and ΣFIC_max of 0.563, suggesting that the oxacillin-CFA combination resulted in an antibacterial synergy effect against MRSA. In addition, we determined that CFA inhibited the mRNA expression of gene mecA and the production of PBP2a, which is a key determinant for β-lactam antibiotic resistance, in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, the results obtained in this study supported the idea on the antibacterial action mechanism that oxacillin will restore the antibacterial activity against MRSA through the suppression of PBP2a production by CFA.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.244-248
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• 2020

Skin and soft tissue infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can occur especially in community populations such as military training camps. We investigated antimicrobial resistance patterns and molecular epidemiological characteristics of MRSA isolated from nasal swabs in healthy army trainees. From January 2018 to March 2018, one MRSA strain was isolated from nasal swab and hand of healthy army trainees. mecA gene detection, SCCmec and mec complex typing were performed to analyze the antimicrobial resistance patterns and molecular epidemiological characteristics of MRSA isolates. As a result, SCCmec and mec complex type of MRSA isolate from military trainees was not-typeable (n=1). In conclusion, not-typeable subtype of MRSA isolate from military trainees need to be confirmed by continuous follow-up study to determine whether there is a different genotype or a new subtype of genotype present in the Republic of Korea.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.143-153
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• 2011

Purpose : It is known that carriage rates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are highest in newborns and that the asymptomatic carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is associated with invasive MRSA infection with the colonizing strain. This study was carried out to investigate the carriage rates of MRSA in neonates with neonatal jaundice. Methods : We reviewed the medical records of 545 neonates admitted with neonatal jaundice to neonatal intensive care units between January 2006 and December 2010. Nasal and inguinal swab specimens had been taken from them and cultured for the isolation of S. aureus. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests had been done for such isolates to determine methicillinresistance. Results : Out of 545 neonates, 318 (58.3%) were colonized with S. aureus and 214 (39.3%) were colonized with MRSA. Results of the antibiogram analysis showed that 65.7% of MRSA isolates were likely to be community-associated (CA) MRSA. Conclusion : Based on the MRSA carriage rate of 39.3%, a surveillance program for MRSA colonization is considered necessary in neonates transferred from other clinics or hospitals. Out of MRSA isolates, 65.7% were likely to be CA-MRSA. This suggests that CA-MRSA strains were already present in obstetric clinic environments where the neonates were born. It is thought that MRSA surveillance programs in these environments are also necessary.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.155-163
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to investigate the carrier rate of S. aureus in the community, antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the organism, detection of MRSA and mecA gene in MRSA. Identification and antibiotic resistance patterns of S. aureus and MRSA were done by MicroScan Panels. MRSA strain was confirmed by disk diffusion method using oxacillin disk. The mecA gene in MRSA was detected by PCR. Eighty-four strains (27.4%) of S. aureus were isolated from the nasal specimens of 307 university students in Busan in 2004. Sixty-eight strains (81.9%) of 83 S. aureus were resistant to penicllin, 16 strains(19.3%) to erythromycin, 15 strains (18.1%) to gentamicin, 12 strains (14.5%) to tetracycline, 6 strains (7.2%) to chloramphenicol, 3 strains (3.6%) to ofloxacin, 2 strains (2.4%) to cefepime, clindamycin, imipenem, meropenem, norfloxacin, respectively. One strain (1.2%) was resistant to ciprofloxacin, cefazolin, cefotaxime, cefuroxime, and oxacillin. And all the strains (100%) of 84 S. aureus were susceptible to amoxicilin/K clavulanate, ticarcillin/K clavulanate, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, rifampin, syncroid, teicoplanin, and vancomycin. One strain of 84 S. aureus isolates was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The mecA gene was detected from the MRSA strain.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.2.1-2.14
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• 2020

The emergence of livestock-associated (LA)-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in livestock animal has become a significant zoonotic concern. In the present study, we investigated nationwide prevalence of LA-MRSA across pork production chain including pig farms, slaughterhouses, and retail markets. A total of 40 MRSA strains were isolated during the investigation and the overall prevalence of MRSA was 3.4% (n = 37), 0.6% (n = 2), and 0.4% (n = 1) in pig farms, slaughterhouses, and retail markets, respectively. Multilocus sequence typing analyses revealed that the 2 most significant clonal lineages in pork production chain in Korea were ST398 (n = 25) and ST541 (n = 6). All of the 40 MRSA isolates were further characterized to investigate key genotypic and phenotypic correlates associated with the emergence and spread of clonal complex 398 (CC398; ST398, and ST541) LA-MRSA. Although the prevalence of swine-associated MRSA was still relatively low and mostly restricted to pig farms, multidrug-resistant CC398 LA-MRSA isolates with new spa types (t18102 and t18103) were identified as a major clonal lineage. The CC398 LA-MRSA strains tended to exhibit increased levels of multiple drug resistance (MDR) phenotype compared with non-CC398 MRSA strains. Of note, in comparison with non-CC398 MRSA isolates, CC398 LA-MRSA isolates exhibited significantly enhanced tetracycline (TET) and zinc resistance. These findings suggested that co-selection pressure associated with MDR phenotype, especially TET resistance, and zinc resistance may have played a significant role in the emergence and persistence of CC398 LA-MRSA in pig farms in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.307-310
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• 2008

Limited therapeutic options are available for vancomycin intermediate-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (VISE) infections and no optimum therapy has been established. We report a case of VISE skull osteomyelitis that was successfully treated with linezolid. The patient was a 53-year-old man who presented with headache, nausea and dysphasia. Brain computerized tomography (CT) demonstrated a subdural hematoma in the left hemisphere. Craniotomy and hematoma evacuation was performed and he showed good recovery despite a scalp wound infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The organism isolated from the scalp wound was sensitive to vancomycin. The patient was treated with intravenous vancomycin for 44 days. However, he showed a high fever, persistent positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) blood cultures, and a deteriorating clinical status. He underwent infected skull bone flap removal and linezolid treatment for 35 days. During one year of follow up, he has not had any further episodes of osteomyelitis or fever. Linezolid has shown to be effective agent to eradiate osteomyelitis caused by VISE.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.48-54
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• 2008

Nine types of staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) genes (sea~see, seg~sej), 3 types of virulence genes (eta, etb, tst), mecA and 16S rRNA as internal positive control were detected from 187 clinical MRSA (methicillin resistance Staphylococcus aureus) strains isolated from a variety hospitalized patients in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do areas using the multiplex PCR. The frequency of the S. aureus strains harboring recently reported SE genes (seg~sej) were found to be very high (65.9%) and greater than that of the strains harboring classical SE (sea~see) genes (47.8%) as previously established. Taking into account that the newly described pairs form SE genes (i.e., sec+seg+sei, seg+sei) were many, in the other hand, single form SE genes (i.e., seg, seh, sei and sej) were rarely detected. The S. aureus with pairs form enterotoxigenic genes become more potentially toxigenic strains. Furthermore, this work indicated a systematic association between the seg and sei genes and their high incidence among the S, aureus strains, which suggests that these two SE's could be an important phylogenetic link among the staphylococcal enterotoxins.