Microbial diseases

R. G. F I N C H MB, ChB, FRCP, FRCPath, FFPM, Consultant Physician in Microbial Diseases, City Hospital NHS Trust, Nottingham, and Professor of Infectious Diseases, Division cf Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Queen s Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham... 

The biosphere includes ecological niches where microbes peacefully co-exist with their eukaryotic host in the human this includes the concept of the micro-biome [14], which is defined as the totality of microbial organisms that co-habit with human beings. On the other hand, microbial colonization of human mucosal surfaces or prosthetic devices, often results in the development of biofilms, with significant deleterious effects on human health [15]. These are some of the challenges in infectious diseases that reflect the need to maximally utilize genomic sequence information and related sciences to better control microbial disease in human populations, and to develop anti-microbial agents with a better therapeutic index. 

Hans Zinsser, Resistance to Infectious Disease, The Macmillan Co., New York, N.Y., 1931. See also Rene J. Dubos, Biochemical Determinants of Microbial Diseases, Harvard University Monograph in Medicine and Public Health, No. 13, Cambridge, Mass., 1954. 

Kahane, L, and Ofek, I. (1996). "Toward Anti-Adherence Therapy for Microbial Disease." Plenum Press, New York, NY. 

Rosenberg, M., Greenstein, R. B.-N., Barki, M., and Goldberg, S. (1996). Hydrophobic interactions as a basis for interfering with microbial adhesion. In "Toward Anti-adhesion Therapy for Microbial Disease." (1. Kahane and 1. Ofek, eds), pp. 241-248. Plenum Press, New York, NY. 

Bunning, V., Lindsay, J. and Archer, D., Chronic health elfects of food borne microbial disease. World Health Stat. Quart., 50, 51, 1997. 

Meyer, L. Role of Cyclic Hydroxamic Acids in Resistance of Maize to Microbial Diseases and Insects, Zentralbl. Mikrobiol. 1988, 143, 39. 

Schaechter. M., G. Medoff, B.I. Eisenstein, and N.C. Engleberg Mechanisms of Microbial Disease, 3rd Edition, Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA,... 

We thank Dr. R. H. Marchessault of Xerox Research Centre of Canada and Professor A. Sarko of State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry for their useful suggestions on analyzing x-ray fiber patterns. The sample of Streptococcus mutans was kindly given by Dr. M. Sudo of Kanonji Institute, Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, to whom we are indebted. 

Are foods better if they are organic Of course they are, but not primarily because of nutrition. Their true value comes from what they do for farm workers in lower pesticide exposure, for soils in enrichment and conservation, for water supplies in less fertilizer runoff, for animals in protection against microbial diseases and mad cowdisease, for fish in protection against contamination with organic hydrocarbons, and for other such environmental factors. 

Rogers, D.E. The changing pattern of life-threatening microbial disease. N Engl J Med 261 (1959) 677-683. 

The process of phagocytosis is of particular relevance when particulate delivery systems, such as microspheres, liposomes and other advanced delivery systems (described in Chapter 5), are used. Such particulate carriers are susceptible to MPS clearance. Sequestration by the MPS is useful in some cases, for example in the treatment of certain microbial diseases. However, if the drag is to be delivered to sites other than the MPS, it is highly undesirable. Therefore considerable research effort is being directed towards methods of avoiding MPS uptake of drag delivery systems. Strategies to both exploit and avoid MPS uptake are described in detail in Chapter 5 (see Section 5.1.4). 

In medicine, we do a similar thing if we want to control microbial diseases. To overcome or to prevent resistance of bacteria toward a particular antibiotic, very often mixtures of structurally different antibiotics are applied, whose molecular targets often differ. If only one antibiotic were given to all patients, the development of resistance would be much favored. 

Applications—especially of PCR—now embrace most aspects of life sciences, including agriculture, food science, and non-microbial disease states, as well as areas relating to human diseases. 

Silver is used in various medical devices. There is concern about the use of silver-containing formulations of uncontrolled composition (for example colloidal silver) with supposed activity in a host of microbial diseases. Despite the supposed anti-infective efficacy of silver-coated medical prostheses, in the majority of studies these prostheses have not been proven to be infection-resistant (7). 

Kahane I, Ofek I (eds) (1996) Toward antiadhesion therapy of microbial diseases. Adv Exp Med Biol, vol 408... 

These companies offer microbial disease products, pheromone traps, and insect predators and parasites. Insectaries specialize in rearing pest predators and parasites. Some rear several species at their facilities, while others raise only one or two and buy the other... 

Snydman, D.R. 1989. Foodbome diseases. In Mechanism of Microbial Diseases, eds. M. Schaechter, G. Medoff, and D. Schaechter, 779-789. Baltimore, MD Williams and Wilkins. 

Apart from their intrinsic role in tissue functioning, the carbohydrate units participate in other types of biological interactions such as the pathogenesis of microbial diseases. As indicated above for polysialic acid some pathogens may mimic host tissue oligosaccharide structures in order to escape immunological defence. In addition, microbes... 

Laboratory of Malariology, International Research Center of Infectious Diseases. Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamada-Oka, Suita, 565-0871. Japan... 

Snydman, D.R., Foodbome diseases, in Mechanism of Microbial Diseases, Schaechter,... 

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