Basic Microbiology
Philip A. Geis in Cosmetic Microbiology, 2020
Summarizing the observed types of bacterial shapes and sizes is difficult due to the far-ranging diversity of the bacteria. However, in general eubacterial species range from very small (nanobacteria, 0.05 mm–0.2 mm in diameter) to very large (Epulopiscium fisheloni, 600 mm × 80 mm). An “average-sized” bacterium such as Escherichia coli is 1.5 mm × 2.6 μm. The most basic morphologies observed in bacteria are the coccus (pl. cocci) and the bacillus or “rod” (pl. bacilli) (Figure 1.2). In addition, the cocci and bacilli can associate in characteristic arrangements such as in pairs of two or four, chains, or filaments and clusters. Many bacteria can be identified by these characteristic arrangements such as Staphylococcus (grape-like clusters of cocci) and Streptococcus (chains of cocci) species. Several bacteria are characterized by a spiral or corkscrew morphology such as the Vibrio, the Spirilla, and the Spirochetes. An additional “morphology” observed in bacteria is amorphic or pleomorphic where consistent regular morphologies are not observed usually due to the lack of a rigid cell wall as observed in the genus Mycoplasma.
Mercuric chloride and syphilis
Dinesh Kumar Jain in Homeopathy, 2022
Mercury produces various toxic manifestations because it damages cells and ultimately tissues of various organs of the body. Spirochete, a causative organism in syphilis, also produces more or less similar symptomatology because it also damages various organs of the body. Mercury has nonspecific action, it destroys human cells as well as foreign microorganisms, which may be spirochaetes or bacteria. The concentration of mercury, which is required to kill spirochetes, also destroys the human cells. Mercury also destroys bacteria and it is also effective as an antibacterial and antiseptic. In various bacterial infections, mercury is effective but these bacterial infections such as Bacillus typhosus never produce symptomatology like mercury-toxic manifestations. This finding is against the law discovered by Hahnemann. Mercury is effective in very low concentration. This misled Hahnemann that all drugs could be effective in very low concentration.
Other diseases (transverse myelitis, tropical spastic paraparesis, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, Lyme’s disease)
Jacques Corcos, David Ginsberg, Gilles Karsenty in Textbook of the Neurogenic Bladder, 2015
Lyme disease (LD) is a multisystemic, tick-borne infectious disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, the type of bacterium called a spirochete that is carried by deer ticks. Infected tick can transmit the spirochete to humans and animals by its bites. Untreated, the bacterium travels through the bloodstream, gets into various body tissues and can cause a number of symptoms, of which some being severe. Lyme borreliosis is a multiorgan infection caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato group with its species B. burgdorferisensu stricto, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii, which are transmitted by ticks of the species Ixodes. This multisystemic infection may cause skin, neurological (including neurogenic bladder), cardiac, or rheumatologic disorders.
Double Trouble: Challenges in the Diagnosis and Management of Ocular Syphilis in HIV-infected Individuals
Published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 2020
Rafael de Pinho Queiroz, Derrick P. Smit, Remco P.H. Peters, Daniel Vitor Vasconcelos-Santos
The natural history of syphilis has three stages: a primary chancre develops an average of 3 weeks (10–90 days) after infection. Following the dissemination of the spirochetes through the body, the secondary stage may develop, with a typical mucocutaneous rash and condylomata lata as the most common clinical presentations. At this time, spirochetes can be detected from the blood, lymph nodes, and various tissues that they may invade. From this secondary stage, syphilis moves to a latent, asymptomatic stage. This stage can be divided into early latent, i.e. within a year from infection, and late latent infection. Secondary manifestations may present or recur during early latent infection.25 Most individuals with late latent syphilis remain asymptomatic as a result of coincidental antibiotic therapy or clearance of the infection, but the long-term tertiary disease may develop in up to one-third of latently infected individuals.24–26 Manifestations of tertiary syphilis include NS, paresis, personality changes, tabes dorsalis, gumma, aneurysms, and aortitis.
Modulation of pathogenic oral biofilms towards health with nisin probiotic
Published in Journal of Oral Microbiology, 2020
Allan Radaic, Changchang Ye, Brett Parks, Li Gao, Ryutaro Kuraji, Erin Malone, Pachiyappan Kamarajan, Ling Zhan, Yvonne L. Kapila
T. denticola, P. gingivalis, and F. nucleatum were grown as described previously [15–17]. T. denticola was cultured in Oral Treponeme Enrichment Broth (OTEB), while P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum were cultured in Brain-Heart Infusion (BHI) broth supplemented with hemin (5 µg ml−1) and vitamin K (1 µg ml−1) under anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic conditions were obtained by placing bacterial samples into sealed anaerobic jars that underwent five cycles of depressurization (vacuum formation) and Nitrogen (N2) pressurization (1 ATM) and kept at 37°C in a Fisher-Scientific Isotemp Incubator. The bacteria were split every 4–7 days. Purity of the spirochete cultures was confirmed by dark field microscopy, while the other two bacteria were confirmed by microscopic evaluation, colony morphology, and sequencing prior to use in experiments.
Diagnosis and management of Lyme neuroborreliosis
Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, 2018
As we have learned more about the causative organisms and the disease’s clinical phenomenology, several additional pathogenic tick-borne spirochetes have been identified – B. spielmanii, B. bavariensis, B.miyamotoi, and B. mayonii. However, very few human infections with these organisms have been identified; while B. spielmanii may cause Lyme disease-like disorders, symptoms with the latter 2 are much more nonspecific.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Anaerobic Organism
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