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M Weingarten

Publications and source records attributed to M Weingarten.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

The epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a burn center.

The emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a critical care facility creates a multifaceted epidemiological problem in uncovering the source of infection. This study was undertaken to determine the true etiology of MRSA burn wound infections. Patients with a 30% or greater TBSA burn had both burned and unburned skin surface cultured upon admission, using RODAC plates. All other body fluids were cultured when sepsis was suspected. Admission cultures of 14 patients who developed MRSA wound infections were examined for methicillin-resistant organisms. Both admission isolates and infection isolates were compared by antibiogram analysis. Of the 14 patients admitted who developed MRSA infections, 57.1% of these had methicillin-resistant staphylococci present on admission. However, the remaining 42.9% of the patients had methicillin-sensitive, B-lactamase positive staphylococci present on admission. Isolates of group D streptococci resistant to methicillin were isolated in 35.7% of the patients. This data suggests that burn wound infections caused by MRSA very likely arise from the endogenous flora present at the time of injury through conferring the resistant plasmid by conjugational transfer.

Burn Units↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increased galectin-3 expression in gastric cancer: correlations with histopathological subtypes, galactosylated antigens and tumor cell proliferation.

Galectin-3 represents an endogenous galactoside-binding lectin which may be involved in tumor cell adhesion and proliferation. In order to evaluate its biological significance in human gastric cancer, we investigated its expression in the stomach of a large series of patients (n = 193) by immunohistochemical staining with the monoclonal antibody Mac-2. Compared to normal tissues, primary gastric adenocarcinomas showed a slight increase in galectin-3 expression. However, there was no correlation of membrane-bound and cytoplasmic galectin-3 with histopathological differentiation parameters (according to the WHO and Laurén classifications) or tumor progression (as documented by pTNM staging). Nuclear galectin-3 reactivity was significantly stronger in diffuse-type cancer compared to the intestinal-type tumors. Galectin-3 binds to terminal GalNAcalpha(1-3) bound to polylactosamine chains and related glycotopes. Therefore, the strong coexpression of membrane/cytoplasmic galectin-3 with Griffonia simplicifolia agglutinin I (GSA I) binding sites (Galalpha1-3Gal-, GalNAcalpha-) on carcinoma cells seems to be interesting. On the other hand, nuclear galectin-3 immunoreactivity did not correlate with the incidence of Ki-67-positive tumor cells. A prognostic value of galectin-3 regarding patient survival could not be established.

Adult↗