IDENTIFICATION AND PROBIOTIC CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES FROM FERMENTED RICE WATER AND ASSOCIATION OF ENTEROCOCCUS HIRAE WITH PEPTIC ULCER CAUSING HELICOBACTER PYLORI

Fermented rice water is a classic example of fermented food known for nutritional values. The microbiome of fermented rice water is not yet completely revealed. Helicobacter pylori, the causative organism of peptic ulcer and gastric cancer is considered as a WHO priority-2 due to the nature of resisting antibiotics necessitating the research to rule out regiments to avoid H. pylori infections. Probiotics are considered as an emerging alternative to eradicate and manage this pathogen, making it more prominent to have the means to evaluate their effectiveness against this pathogen. The present work is focused on revealing the microbial communities of fermented rice water and to characterize the isolates for their probiotic efficiency along with its antagonistic activity against H. pylori. Three natural inhabitants of fermented rice water were isolated and characterized morphologically and biochemically and were identified using 16s rRNA sequencing. The isolates were further tested for their probiotic efficiency and their antagonistic activity against H. pylori isolated from the gastric endoscopic ulcer samples. The present study highlights Enterococcus hirae as a probiotic strain with potent anti-H. pylori activity.

Enterococcus hirae bacteremia associated with acute pyelonephritis in a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis: a case report and literature review

Background Infections caused by Enterococcus hirae are common in animals, with instances of transmission to humans being rare. Further, few cases have been reported in humans because of the difficulty in identifying the bacteria. Herein, we report a case of pyelonephritis caused by E. hirae bacteremia and conduct a literature review on E. hirae bacteremia. Case presentation A 57-year-old male patient with alcoholic cirrhosis and neurogenic bladder presented with fever and chills that had persisted for 3 days. Physical examination revealed tenderness of the right costovertebral angle. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) of the patient’s blood and urine samples revealed the presence of E. hirae, and pyelonephritis was diagnosed. The patient was treated successfully with intravenous ampicillin followed by oral linezolid for a total of three weeks. Conclusion The literature review we conducted revealed that E. hirae bacteremia is frequently reported in urinary tract infections, biliary tract infections, and infective endocarditis and is more likely to occur in patients with diabetes, liver cirrhosis, and chronic kidney disease. However, mortality is not common because of the high antimicrobial susceptibility of E. hirae. With the advancements in MALDI-TOF MS, the number of reports of E. hirae infections has also increased, and clinicians need to consider E. hirae as a possible causative pathogen of urinary tract infections in patients with known risk factors.

Probiotic Potential and Immunomodulatory Properties in Enterococcus Faecium GMB24 and Enterococcus Hirae SMB16 Isolated from Goat and Sheep Milk

Probiotic attributes of lactic acid bacteria isolated from goat and sheep milk samples were analysed by culturing them on MRS (de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe) agar media. The most potential isolates, GMB24 and SMB16, were identified by biochemical tests, which were further identified as Enterococcus faecium GMB24 and Enterococcus hirae SMB16 by 16S rRNA gene sequencing approach. The probiotic potential of the GMB24 and SMB16 were possessed for probiotics attributes including antimicrobial activity against five pathogenic bacteria viz., Escherichia coli (MTCC118), Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC7443), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC424), Listeria monocytogens (MTCC657) and Salmonella typhimurium (MTCC733), and antibiotic susceptibility test. These bacterial isolates had ability to tolerate different concentrations of acid, bile and phenol resistance. Further, immunomodulating activities of potential probiotic bacteria were tested on neutrophil adhesion test, haemagglutinating antibody titer and delayed type hypersensitivity. The data from these experiments were used for the principal component analysis (PCA) for assessing survivability of isolates at different factors. The probiotic bacterial isolates showed good response for the enhanced antibody production and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) activity. Probiotic isolates E. faecium GMB24 and E. hirae SMB16, at 109 cells/ml doses per day, increased the neutrophil adhesion, haemagglutinating antibody titer and DTH in comparison to the untreated control group. These differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The isolates showed negative test for hemolytic and gelatinase activities and hence were considered safe. E. faecium GMB24 and E. hirae SMB16 possessed an excellent probiotic potential and had a strong potential immune-stimulant activity.

Enterococcus hirae as a cause of bacteremic urinary tract infection: first case report from Turkey

Introduction: Enterococcus hirae (E. hirae) constitutes less than 1% of the enterococci strains in human clinical specimens. In this article, we report the first case of urinary tract infection-related bacteremia due to E. hirae from Turkey. Case Presentation: A 74-year-old male patient with a history of coronary artery disease, hypertension, and chronic renal failure was admitted to the emergency department with abdominal pain, dysuria, and fever. The urine sample collected from the urinary catheter resulted as ampicillin-sensitive E. hirae. On the 4th day of hospitalization, E. hirae growth with the same sensitivity pattern was also reported in blood culture. Intravenous ampicillin 4×2 g/day treatment was initiated. There was no growth in subsequent blood and urine cultures. Fever resolved and general condition improved. The patient was discharged on the thirteenth day with clinical improvement after moxifloxacin treatment for four days and ampicillin treatment for nine days. Discussion: The patient's medical history included risk factors for enterococcal bacteremia. There are a limited number of reports in the literature describing human infections caused by E. hirae. The reason for the rare isolation of E. hirae from clinical specimens may be the difficulty of identifying with standard diagnostic approaches. Conclusions: For diagnostic purposes, as in our case, rapid and high sensitive diagnostic methods such as Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) and molecular techniques may be useful to guide the selection of the least toxic and optimal duration of antibiotic treatment.

Susceptibility to Enterocins and Lantibiotic Bacteriocins of Biofilm-Forming Enterococci Isolated from Slovak Fermented Meat Products Available on the Market

This study investigated eight types of Slovak dry fermented meat products (salami and sausages) that are available on the market and were produced by three different producers in different regions of Slovakia. The total counts of enterococci in these products ranged from 2.0 up to 6.0 cfu/g (log10). Three species were identified among the 15 selected enterococcal strains; Enterococcus faecium (8 strains), Enterococcus faecalis (3) and Enterococcus hirae (4). They were hemolysis-negative (γ-hemolysis) with a biofilm-forming ability, which was evaluated as low-grade biofilm formation, susceptible to conventional antibiotics and mainly susceptible to lantibiotic bacteriocins, namely, gallidermin and nisin; they even showed a higher susceptibility to gallidermin than to nisin. They were also susceptible to enterocin–durancin, but most strains showed resistance to enterocin A/P. This study indicated that bacteriocins can play a key role in preventing and/or protecting from undesirable bacterial multiplication or contamination in the food industry and that they have great potential for further experimental applications.