Spectinomycin remains a useful reserve option for therapy of gonorrhea. The emergence of multidrug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains with decreased susceptibility to cefixime and to ceftriaxone makes it the only medicine still effective for treatment of gonorrhea infection in analogous cases. However, adoption of spectinomycin as a routinely used drug of choice was soon followed by reports of spectinomycin resistance. The main molecular mechanism of spectinomycin resistance in N. gonorrhoeae was C1192T substitution in 16S rRNA genes. Here we reported a Thr-24→Pro mutation in ribosomal protein S5 (RPS5) found in spectinomycin resistant clinical N. gonorrhoeae strain, which carried no changes in 16S rRNA. In a series of experiments, the transfer of rpsE gene allele encoding the mutant RPS5 to the recipient N. gonorrhoeae strains was analyzed. The relatively high rate of transformation [ca. 10−5 colony-forming units (CFUs)] indicates the possibility of spread of spectinonycin resistance within gonococcal population due to the horizontal gene transfer (HGT).

Bacteriophage therapy is considered one of the most promising therapeutic approaches against multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus are very efficiently controlled with therapeutic bacteriophage cocktails, containing a number of individual phages infecting a majority of known pathogenic S. aureus strains. We assessed the contribution of individual bacteriophages comprising a therapeutic bacteriophage cocktail against S. aureus in order to optimize its composition. Two lytic bacteriophages vB_SauM-515A1 (Myoviridae) and vB_SauP-436A (Podoviridae) were isolated from the commercial therapeutic cocktail produced by Microgen (Russia). Host ranges of the phages were established on the panel of 75 S. aureus strains. Phage vB_SauM-515A1 lysed 85.3% and vB_SauP-436A lysed 68.0% of the strains, however, vB_SauP-436A was active against four strains resistant to vB_SauM-515A1, as well as to the therapeutic cocktail per se. Suboptimal results of the therapeutic cocktail application were due to extremely low vB_SauP-436A1 content in this composition. Optimization of the phage titers led to an increase in overall cocktail efficiency. Thus, one of the effective ways to optimize the phage cocktails design was demonstrated and realized by using bacteriophages of different families and lytic spectra.

The nucleotide sequence of a bla KPC-2 -harboring plasmid (pKPCAPSS) from Klebsiella pneumoniae ST273 isolated in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from a patient with history of recent travel to Vietnam is presented. This 127,970-bp plasmid possessed both IncFII and IncR replicons. bla KPC-2 was localized on a hypothetical mobile element. This element was flanked by 38-bp inverted Tn3 repeats and included a Tn3-specific transposase gene, macrolide resistance operon (mphA-mrx-mphR), and a fragment of bla TEM with unique polymorphisms.

Aims Pacing remote from the latest electrically activated site (LEAS) in the left ventricle (LV) may diminish response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We tested whether proximity of LV pacing site (LVPS) to LEAS, determined by non-invasive three-dimensional electrical activation mapping [electrocardiographic Imaging (ECGI)], increased likelihood of CRT response. Methods and results Consecutive CRT patients underwent ECGI and chest/heart computed tomography 6–24 months of post-implant. Latest electrically activated site and the distance to LVPS (dp) were assessed. Left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) reduction of ≥15% at clinical follow-up defined response. Logistic regression probabilistically modelled non-response; variables included demographics, heart failure classification, left bundle branch block (LBBB), ischaemic heart disease (IHD), atrial fibrillation, QRS duration, baseline ejection fraction (EF) and LVESV, comorbidities, use of CRT optimization algorithm, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor(ACE)/angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB), beta-blocker, diuretics, and dp. Of 111 studied patients [64 ± 11 years, EF 28 ± 6%, implant duration 12 ± 5 months (mean ± SD), 98% had LBBB, 38% IHD], 67% responded at 10 ± 3 months post CRT-implant. Latest electrically activated sites were outside the mid-to-basal lateral segments in 35% of the patients. dp was 42 ± 23 mm [31 ± 14 mm for responders vs. 63 ± 24 mm non-responders (P < 0.001)]. Longer dp and the lack of use of CRT optimization algorithm were the only independent predictors of non-response [area under the curve (AUC) 0.906]. dp of 47 mm delineated responders and non-responders (AUC 0.931). Conclusion The distance between LV pacing site and latest electrical activation is a strong independent predictor for CRT response. Non-invasive electrical evaluation to characterize intrinsic activation and guide LV lead deployment may improve CRT efficacy.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing B0/W148 is one of the most widely distributed clusters in the Russian Federation and in some countries of the former Soviet Union. Recent studies have improved our understanding of the reasons for the “success” of the cluster but this area remains incompletely studied. Here, we focused on the system omics analysis of the RUS_B0 strain belonging to the Beijing B0/W148 cluster. Completed genome sequence of RUS_B0 (CP020093.1) and a collection of WGS for 394 cluster strains were used to describe the main genetic features of the population. In turn, proteome and transcriptome studies allowed to confirm the genomic data and to identify a number of finds that have not previously been described. Our results demonstrated that expression of the whiB6 which contains cluster-specific polymorphism (a151c) increased almost 40 times in RUS_B0. Additionally, the level of ethA transcripts in RUS_B0 was increased by more than 7 times compared to the H37Rv. Start sites for 10 genes were corrected based on the combination of proteomic and transcriptomic data. Additionally, based on the omics approach, we identified 5 new genes. In summary, our analysis allowed us to summarize the available results and also to obtain fundamentally new data.