High and increasing Oxa-51 DNA load predict mortality in Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia: implication for pathogenesis and evaluation of therapy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While quantification of viral loads has been successfully employed in clinical medicine and has provided valuable insights and useful markers for several viral diseases, the potential of measuring bacterial DNA load to predict outcome or monitor therapeutic responses remains largely unexplored. We tested this possibility by investigating bacterial loads in Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia, a rapidly increasing nosocomial infection characterized by high mortality, drug resistance, multiple and complicated risk factors, all of which urged the need of good markers to evaluate therapeutics.

Methods and findings

We established a quantitative real-time PCR assay based on an A. baumannii-specific gene, Oxa-51, and conducted a prospective study to examine A. baumannii l

SUBMITTER: Chuang YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2994729 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature