Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections and a major cause of healthcare-associated infections. Although Escherichia coli remains the most common uropathogen, an increasing number of slow-growing Gram-positive bacteria are now recognized as important causes of UTIs. These include Aerococcus spp. Actinotignum (formerly Actinobaculum) schaalii, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Alloscardovia omnicolens, Corynebacterium urealyticum and Gardnerella vaginalis. Historically underdiagnosed or misidentified, these organisms are now better detected due to advances in diagnostic microbiology. They predominantly affect elderly patients with significant comorbidities, urinary tract abnormalities or instrumentation, and may cause severe and invasive infections, including bacteremia and infective endocarditis. Diagnosis is challenging due to fastidious growth requirements, nitrite-negative urine dipstick results, and misidentification by conventional methods. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and optimized culture conditions are therefore essential for accurate detection. Antimicrobial management is complicated by variable or intrinsic resistance to commonly used antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones, fosfomycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and mecillinam, and by limited susceptibility testing recommendations. Empirical UTI treatment regimens are therefore often inadequate, and targeted antimicrobial susceptibility testing is strongly recommended in severe, recurrent, or refractory infection. This review summarizes the microbiological characteristics, epidemiology, and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of these slow-growing and fastidious uropathogens, highlighting diagnostic and therapeutic challenges and future perspectives.

Quorum sensing (QS) coordinates collective bacterial behavior, but during infection, its activity is also shaped by host biology. This review examines how host-derived factors modulate QS-linked virulence in enteric pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Across these systems, host control operates through three recurring modes: activation or signal mimicry, enzymatic signal degradation, and extracellular sequestration or receptor-level interference. Catecholamines and related metabolites can feed into bacterial sensory pathways and promote virulence signaling; PONs (paraoxonases) and other host enzymes can degrade autoinducers; and lipoproteins, immune mediators, and epithelial surveillance systems can intercept or reinterpret quorum signals. Together, these data support the view that the host is an active signal-processing environment that reshapes colonization, persistence, and tissue damage, and they point to host-inspired anti-virulence strategies that target signaling rather than viability.

Lupeol, a pentacyclic triterpene found in various plant species, has gained prominence due to its antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antifungal properties, along with its low toxicity. In view of the increasing resistance to antifungal agents and the limited therapeutic arsenal available, research on natural bioactive compounds with antimicrobial potential, such as lupeol, has intensified. This review compiles and critically discusses evidence identified through a literature search performed in SciELO, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and additional relevant sources for studies published from 2003 to 2025, using combined descriptors related to lupeol, antifungal activity, fungal infections, Candida, Cryptococcus, Aspergillus, dermatophytes, biofilm, virulence factors, mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, nanoformulations, nanotechnology, molecular docking, molecular dynamics, and in silico approaches. The pharmacokinetic properties of lupeol and the nanotechnological strategies aimed at enhancing its biopharmaceutical potential are also discussed. In addition, in silico approaches that have contributed to understanding the molecular interactions of lupeol with fungal targets are presented, as well as the development of new derivatives. In summary, this article identifies lupeol as a promising multifunctional molecule for antifungal therapy in the face of increasing microbial resistance and the demand for more effective and less harmful antifungal agents.

Mycobacterium colombiense is a seldom reported non-tuberculous mycobacteria causing infections mostly in immunosuppressed patients. Thus, we present the findings of three M. colombiense isolation cases from a third-level hospital in Monterrey, Mexico, during 2020-2024. Mycobacterial identification was performed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and Anyplex™ MTB/NTM Real-time Detection. Patients were people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLHIV), with pneumonia and lymphadenopathy. Patients had high HIV viral loads and low CD4 counts (21-103 cells/mm[3]). None of the cases had specific Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) treatment, and all of them showed clinical improvement. Current non-tuberculous mycobacteria discrimination tests may not effectively diagnose significant pathogens like M. colombiense, potentially leading to delays in treatment and negatively impacting patient outcomes.

Technology has offered considerable means to create, enhance, and upkeep biosecurity during the last quarter-century. Mostly this refers to routine health promotion means, more or less modified for the much more complex environment of Biosecurity, which includes perpetrated biothreats and thus involves hostile intelligence set to nullify response. This narrative review describes the complexity of the field and presents to bioscience-cognitive audience an update of the current state-of-the-art approaches, their usefulness in Biosecurity applications and their suitability for the diverse current format. The research involved plain internet (Google) search engine and Pubmed searches with matching terms from May 2025 to January 2026. Regarding diagnostics, the Molecular Diagnostics applicable in Resource-Limited Settings, the serodiagnostics, now available in solid formats as Rapid Diagnostic Tests, improved and more powerful Microscopy and cultures updated to Culturomics are the focus. Support functions, from bioinformatics to remote and cybernetic applications, such as lab and diagnostic automations, increase responsiveness and flexibility. Intervention, the second major arm of Biosecurity is also evolving despite the scarcity of new antibiotics. Different classes of Bioamenities combined with advanced and controllable delivery methods emerge for routine medicine and may be adopted, adapted, and modified for Biosecurity use.