• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.164-167
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• 2005

Cellular fatty acid composition of 17 strains of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa was determined by gas-liquid chromatography isolated from environmental and clinical sample in a C university hospital. Straight-chain saturated acid of C16:0 and straight-chain unsaturated acid of C18:1 with a double bond were commonly found in all the strains tested. The presence of 12:0 3OH (3-10%), 16:0 (18-28%), and 18:1w7c (17-37%) showed the characteristics of the species in the Pseudomonas. Bacterial fatty acid composition was considered to be useful for the study of interrelation and for rapid identification of the bacteria.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1214-1220
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• 2010

Imipenem-resistant bacteria were isolated from clinical specimens taken from hospitalized patients in Suncheon, Korea. Fifty-four isolates were phylogenetically analyzed based on 16S rRNA gene and gyrB gene sequence comparisons. Isolates were affiliated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (30 strains; 55.6%), Acinetobacter baumannii (21; 38.9%), Enterobacter hormaechei (2) and Pseudomonas putida (2). Twenty-two isolates produced metallo-$\beta$-lactamase (MBL); 12 Acinetobacter baumannii strains, 7 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, 2 P. putida strains and 1 Enterobacter hormaechei strain. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was determined using the disc diffusion method and Vitek system. Strains producing metallo-$\beta$-lactamase (type IMP & VIM) were more resistant to antibiotics ceftazidime, aztreonam, amikacin and gentamicin than to strains producing OXA and SHV type of $\beta$-lactamase.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.352-356
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• 2006

CW-270031, an injectable carbapenem, is a novel synthesized pyrrolidinyl-thio carbapenems. It was evaluated for its in vitro antibacterial activities in comparison with those of imipenem and meropenem against standard strains and clinical isolated strains, CW-270031 was more active than imipenem against gram-negative (E. coli and Klebsiella oxytoca) clinical isolates, but it was slightly active than meropenem. Against Klebsiella aeruginosa CW-118 MIC were 0.048 $\mu$g/ml for CW-270031, 0.19 $\mu$g/ml for imipenem. Against clinical E. coli MIC range were 0.012$\sim$0.195 $\mu$g/ml for CW-270031, 0.097$\sim$0.39 $\mu$g/ml for imipenem. Against clinical Klebsiella oxytoca MIC$_{50}$ were 0.09 $\mu$g/ml for CW-270031, 0.39 $\mu$g/ml for imipenem. Against gram-positive standard strains and clinical CW-270031 was slightly more activity than meropenem, but CW-270033 was less active than imipenem against these tested isolates. The subcutaneous injection of CW-270031 in mice revealed that the half-life of CW-270031 in serum was about 13 min, long than that of meropenem (10.6 min). CW-270031. was stable to hydrolysis by dog renal dehydropeptidase I (DHP-l) enzyme, to an more stabilities shown by meropenem.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.276-282
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• 1995

Compared to the first and second-generation cephalosporins, the third-generation cephalosporins are remarkably stable against hydrolysis by the $\beta$-lactamases produced by aerobic gram-negative bacilli, such as Enterobacteriaceae. Among these bacteria, the most prevalent plasmid-encoded $\beta$-lactamase is TEM-1 $\beta$-lactamase belonging to class A or group 2b. This enzyme is produced constitutively and is principally active against peniciflins and old cephalosporins rather than third-generafion cephalosporins, carbapenems and mmobactams. However, new TEM type $\beta$-lactamases including TEM-9 and TEM-12 evolved through point mutations in a gene encoding $\beta$-lactamase have been discovered from patients during chemotherapy. These $\beta$-lactamases are known to be capable of hydrolyzing most of the third-generatim cephalosporins. To study the prevalence of $\beta$-lactamases from clinical isolates collected in Korea. the minimal inhibitory concentratims(MICs) of several third-generation cephalosporins against 628 clinical isolates were determined by agar dilution methods, and $\beta$-lactamas-producing bacteria were isolated by use of cefinase disc. By polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, clinical isolates harboring a gene for TEM type $\beta$-lactamase were identified among the $\beta$-lactamase producing strains. Twentiy three percent of the clinical isolates was resistant to the thirdgeneration cephalosporins, and more than 90% of resistant cells produced various $\beta$-lactamases. TFM type $\beta$-lactamases were dominant in gram-negative bacilli, such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter species. These results suggest the necessity of the development of new cephalosporins which are stable against $\beta$-lactamases like TEM.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2006

Recently, the rapid increase in extended-spectrum ${\beta}$-lactamase (ESBL) producing clinical isolates has become a serious problem. In this study, the epidemiologic features and molecular characteristics of ESBL among clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, antibiotic susceptibility testing, genotype of the ESBL and patterns of chromosomal DNA from PFGE (pulsed field gel electrophoresis) were observed. A total of 53 ESBL-producing clinical isolates (30 of E. coli and 23 of Klebsiella pneumoniae) were collected from two university hospitals in the period of June to July in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The antibiotic resistance frequency of those 53 strains was tested by the disk agar diffusion method with the result that all the strains were resistant to cephalothin. To other antibiotics, the resistance rates of E. coli (30 isolates) were in order of ceftazidime (90.0%), cefotaxime and aztreonam (respectively 83.3%). Also, the resistance rates of K. pneumoniae (23 isolates) were in order of aztreonam (78.3%), ceftazidime (73.9%) and cefotaxime (65.3%). Also the sensitivity of ceftazidime-clavulanic acid were 100% in E. coli and 95.7% in K. pneumoniae. And the sensitivity of cefotaxime-clavulanic acid was 96.7% in E. coli and 91.3% in K. pneumoniae. The types of the ESBL genes were determined by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Among the 30 isolates of ESBL-producing E. coli, 6 (20.0%) have SHV only, 5 (16.7%) have TEM only and, 18 (60.0%) have both of TEM and SHV. Among the 23 isolates of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae, 7 (30.4%) have SHV only, 2 (8.7%) have TEM only, and 14 (60.9%) have both of TEM and SHV. These results show that 52 strains, with only one exception, were confirmed as either TEM or SHV. The patterns of Xba I-digested chromosomal DNA of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates were analyzed by PFGE. PFGE patterns of E. coli and K. pneumoniae were multiclonal, but many strains were grouped into a few types. Therefore, it seems that there were clonal outbreaks or possible horizontal spread. In conclusion, the TEM and SHV ${\beta}$-lactamase are most widely spread in E. coli and K. pneumoniae in Korea. As these types are usually carried by plasmids, the spread of these ${\beta}$-lactamase genes could compromise the future usefulness of third generation cephalosporins for the treatment of infections caused by E. coli and K. pneumoniae.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.110-117
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• 2018

In the present study, mec complex typing and SCCmec typing were performed to analyze the molecular genetic characteristics of 20 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from clinical specimens and 4 strains isolated from the ICU environments of secondary medical institutions in a Chungnam province, Korea, from June to July of 2017. Among a total of 20 MRSA strains isolated from clinical specimens, 8 cases (40%) were SCCmec type II, one case (5%) was SCCmec type IVa, and 11 cases (55%) were not-typeable in SCCmec type analysis. Among 4 MRSA isolates from the ICU environment, one strain did not have the mecA gene and 3 strains were typed as SCCmec types II, III, and IVa, respectively. Data from the present study showed that the origin of MRSA isolated from the clinical specimens was different from those from the ICU environment in most cases but the origin was concordant in one case. In this case, MRSA might be transmitted by healthcare workers to the ICU environment. Further study with a large number of cases and other hospital infection-related microorganisms will be needed. This continuous follow-up study might provide useful information on infection control in medical institutions.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2000

Acinetobacter baumannii strains are emerging pathogens of the nosocomial infection with an increasing frequency in recent years. The therapeutic difficulty due to the wide spread of multiple resistant strains was major problem in A. baumannii infection. It seems likely that high frequency of A. baumannii infection will be increasing epidemiological importance in the future. However, the current limited understanding of the epidemiology of A. baumannii infections is caused by lack of a rapid and practical method for the molecular characterization of A. baumannii strains. This study was undertaken to determine molecular types and genetic similarity among A. baumannii strains isolated from four hospitals by RAPD analysis. Eighty-five strains, including 40 from Chunnam University Hospital, 27 from Dankook University Hospital, 15 from Yonsei University Hospital, and 3 from Seonam University Hospital, were classified into three molecular types. Molecular type II was the most common pattern and included 72 strains. All strains from Dankook University Hospital and 40 strains from Chunnam University Hospital belonged to molecular type I or II. A. baumannii strains form Yonsei University Hospital were very distant similarity values. The range of genetic similarity values among 85 strains of A. baumannii was 0.26 to 1.00. Although phenotypes including biotype and antimicrobial resistance pattern of A. baumannii strains were same or very similar to each other, their RAPD patterns were quite different. Typing with phenotypes was found to be less reliable than molecular typing by RAPD analysis. These results suggest that RAPD analysis provides rapid and simple typing method of A. baumannii strains for epidemiological studies. This work is the first epidemiological report of A. baumannii infections in Korea and it is hoped that results of this work may contribute to a better understanding of the clinical importance and epidemiology of A. baumannii strains.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.354-359
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• 2003

Multiplex-PCR protocols were designed in order to make a rapid identification of MRSA. MecA, femB, and 165 rRNA genes were amplified for making a detection of MRSA. The incidence of MRSA in the clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus was examined by using a multiplex-PCR assay. The mecA gene was detected in 266 strains out of 336 clinical isolates of S. aureus, thus the incidence of MRSA was approximately 76.5%. The MRSAs of 247 strains (96.1%) showed resistance to more than eight species of the antimicrobial agents tested. The isolates of MRSA showed 27 different antimicrobial-resistant patterns. The results indicate that many different MRSA strains having high multidrug resistance are actually prevalent in Korea. Also, VISA was screened from the MRSA. Two strains were grown on the BHI agar plate supplemented with $8\;\mu\textrm{g}/ml$ of vancomycin at a frequency of $1/10^8$ colony forming units or higher.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2006

Klebsiella pneumoniae is the leading cause of nasocomial infection and the most commonly isolated from clinical specimens. $Extended-spectrum-{\beta}-lactamase$ (ESBL) producing K. pneumoniae infection was associated with a significantly longer duration of hospital stay and greater hospital charges. The purpose of this study is to investigate the antibiotic resistant patterns and the DNA fingerprint types of extended-spectrum ${\beta}-lactamase$ (ESBL) producing K. pneumoniae. 223K. pneumoniae strains were collected from three general hospitals with more than 500 beds in Busan, Korea from September 2004 to October 2005. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics was measured using the Gram negative susceptibility (GNS) cards of VITEK (Vitek system, Hazelwood Inc., MO). Random amplified polymorphic DNA method was used to detect DNA fingerprint of the organisms. Of the 226 K. pneumoniae isolates 65 ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae strains were detected by the Vitek system and confirmed by the double-disk synergy test. All the 65K. pneumoniae strains were resistant cefazolin, cefepime, ceftriaxone and aztreonam, and 83.0% of the organisms were resistant to ampicillin/sulbactam, 66.1% to tobramycin, 67.6% to piperacillin/tazobactam, 61.5% to ciprofloxacin, and 47.6% to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and 43.0% to gentamicin. The RAPD patterns were distincted as 10 types by three random 10-mer primers (208, 272, 277). Among ten type patterns, three types (Ic, IIb, IIIe) were remarkably represented at patient of internal department, nerve surgery department, general surgery department, and neonatal room. These results indicate that RAPD can be useful for DNA of strains typing in the epidemiological investigations. Therefore more investigation are needed in order to prevent the ESBL type-producing K. pneumoniae from spreading resistance to oxyimino cephalosphorin antibiotics.

• Infection and chemotherapy
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.328-339
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• 2018

Background: Pneumococcal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in patients with comorbidities and advanced age. This study evaluated trends in epidemiology of adult pneumococcal disease in Crete, Greece, by identifying serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance of consecutive Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated from adults during an 8-year time period (2009-2016) and the indirect effect of the infant pneumococcal higher-valent conjugate vaccines 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). Materials and Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by E-test and serotyping by Quellung reaction. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was defined as non-susceptibility to penicillin (PNSP) combined with resistance to ${\geq}2$ non-${\beta}$-lactam antimicrobials. Results: A total of 135 S. pneumoniae strains were isolated from adults during the study period. Twenty-one serotypes were identified with 17F, 15A, 3, 19A, and 11A, being the most common. The coverage rates of PCV10, and PCV13 were 17.8% and 37.8%, respectively. PCV13 serotypes decreased significantly from 68.4% in 2009 to 8.3% in 2016 (P = 0.002). The most important emerging non-PCV13 serotypes were 17F, 15A, and 11A, with 15A being strongly associated with antimicrobial resistance and MDR. Among all study isolates, penicillin-resistant and MDR strains represented 7.4% and 14.1%, respectively. Predominant PNSP serotypes were 19A (21.7%), 11A (17.4%), and 15A (17.4%). Erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and levofloxacin resistant rates were 30.4%, 15.6%, 16.3%, 16.3%, and 1.5%, respectively. Conclusion: Although pneumococcal disease continues to be a health burden in adults in Crete, our study reveals a herd protection effect of the infant pneumococcal higher-valent conjugate vaccination. Surveillance of changes in serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance among pneumococcal isolates are necessary to guide optimal prevention and treatment strategies.