ABSTRACT
Although D. pneumosintes is considered a member of the human normal microbiota of the upper respiratory tract,
34.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 381 34.1.1 ClassiŠcation, Morphology, and Epidemiology ................................................................................................... 381 34.1.2 Clinical Features and Pathogenesis ..................................................................................................................... 382 34.1.3 Diagnosis ............................................................................................................................................................. 383
34.1.3.1 Conventional Techniques ...................................................................................................................... 383 34.1.3.2 Molecular Techniques ........................................................................................................................... 383
34.2 Methods ........................................................................................................................................................................... 385 34.2.1 Sample Preparation .............................................................................................................................................. 385 34.2.2 Detection Procedures ........................................................................................................................................... 386
34.3 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................................... 389 References ................................................................................................................................................................................. 389
vaginal ³ora, and oral cavity,2,12,14,15 this species has been implicated in several infections, including periodontal diseases,13,15-21 root canal infections,22,23 dentoalveolar24 and brain abscesses,25 infections of the respiratory tract,12,26 bite wounds,27 and bacteremia.12,25,28 This microorganism has also been recovered from the amniotic ³uid and placentas of pregnant women with premature rupture of the amniotic sac,14 mastoid infections, decubitus ulcers, and peritoneal and vaginal infections.28 The largest described collection of Dialister clinical isolates, assembled by Morio and coworkers in 2007,29 has allowed evaluation of the relative clinical signiŠcance and sources of the Dialister species, as well as their antimicrobial susceptibilities. Demographic information showed that the majority of Dialister isolates were identiŠed from male patients (66.2%) and adults (mean age of recovery, 47 years; range, 21 months to 92 years). The isolates were recovered from various clinical samples, including blood cultures, bone, and supra-and infradiaphragmatic pus. The majority of the strains were isolated from cutaneous and soft-tissue infections (52.7%). D. pneumosintes was the only species recovered from blood cultures in the study (2.7%), and was the predominant species in intraabdominal (11 out of 13 isolates) and respiratory (7 out of 8 isolates) samples. Except for one strain from blood, all isolates of Dialister spp. were recovered from mixed ³ora, mainly associated with anaerobic gram-positive cocci and Streptococcus spp.
