Project description:Bacterial sepsis is a major killer in hospitalized patients. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) with the leading species Staphylococcus epidermidis are the most frequent causes of nosocomial sepsis, with most infectious isolates being methicillin resistant. However, which bacterial factors underlie the pathogenesis of CNS sepsis is unknown. While it has been commonly believed that invariant structures on the surface of CNS trigger sepsis by causing an over-reaction of the immune system, we show here that sepsis caused my methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis is to a large extent mediated by the methicillin resistance island-encoded peptide toxin, PSM-mec. PSM-mec contributed to bacterial survival in whole human blood and resistance to neutrophil-mediated killing, and caused significantly increased mortality and cytokine expression in a mouse sepsis model. Furthermore, we show that the PSM-mec peptide itself, rather than the regulatory RNA in which its gene is embedded, is responsible for the observed virulence phenotype. While toxins have never been clearly indicated in CNS infections, our study shows that an important type of infection caused by the predominant CNS species, S. epidermidis, is mediated to a large extent by a toxin. Of note, these findings suggest that CNS infections may be amenable to virulence-targeted drug development approaches. We used microarrays to detail the global gene expression between S. epidermidis strain Rp62A and S. epidermidis strain Rp62A isogenic Δpsm-mec deletion mutants
Project description:Genomic epidemiology and patterns of antimicrobial resistance of neonatal sepsis in low- and middle-income countries
https://barnards-group.com
Project description:Colorectal cancer is among the most common types of cancer worldwide. Population-based screening programs for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer have been introduced as part of cancer control in many high-income countries. Population-based cancer screening programs do not exist in most low- and middle-income countries. There are some studies that report the awareness of colorectal cancer in Turkey.
Project description:Bacterial sepsis is associated with high morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. However, diagnosis of sepsis and identification of the causative agent remains challenging. Our aim was to determine genome-wide expression profiles of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants with and without bacterial sepsis and assess differences.
Project description:Neonates manifest a unique host response to sepsis even among other children. Preterm neonates may experience sepsis soon after birth or during often protracted birth hospitalizations as they attain physiologic maturity. We examined the transcriptome using genome-wide expression profiling on prospectively collected peripheral blood samples from infants evaluated for sepsis within 24 hours after clinical presentation. Simultaneous plasma samples were examined for alterations in inflammatory mediators. Group designation (sepsis or uninfected) was determined retrospectively based on clinical exam and laboratory results over the next 72 hours from the time of evaluation. Unsupervised analysis showed the major node of separation between groups was timing of sepsis episode relative to birth (early, <3 days or late, >3 days). Principal component analyses revealed significant differences between patients with early or late sepsis despite the presence of similar key immunologic pathway aberrations in both groups. Unique to neonates, the uninfected state and host response to sepsis is significantly affected by timing relative to birth. Future therapeutic approaches may need to be tailored to the timing of the infectious event based on post-natal age. We used human microarrays to detail the molecular profile of the events that occur following sepsis in hospitalized neonates Please note that 'uninfected chorio' represents babies who were not infected but had chorioamnionitis exposure
Project description:Background: Systemic inflammation is a whole body reaction that can have an infection-positive (i.e. sepsis) or infection-negative origin. It is important to distinguish between septic and non-septic presentations early and reliably, because this has significant therapeutic implications for critically ill patients. We hypothesized that a molecular classifier based on a small number of RNAs expressed in peripheral blood could be discovered that would: 1) determine which patients with systemic inflammation had sepsis; 2) be robust across independent patient cohorts; 3) be insensitive to disease severity; and 4) provide diagnostic utility. The overall goal of this study was to identify and validate such a molecular classifier. Methods and Findings: We conducted an observational, non-interventional study of adult patients recruited from tertiary intensive care units (ICU). Biomarker discovery was conducted with an Australian cohort (n = 105) consisting of sepsis patients and post -surgical patients with infection-negative systemic inflammation. Using this cohort, a four-gene classifier consisting of a combination of CEACAM4, LAMP1, PLA2G7 and PLAC8 RNA biomarkers was identified. This classifier, designated SeptiCyte® Lab, was externally validated using RT-qPCR and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis in five cohorts (n = 345) from the Netherlands. Cohort 1 (n=59) consisted of unambiguous septic cases and infection-negative systemic inflammation controls; SeptiCyte® Lab gave an area under curve (AUC) of 0.96 (95% CI: 0.91-1.00). ROC analysis of a more heterogeneous group of patients (Cohorts 2-5; 249 patients after excluding 37 patients with infection likelihood possible) gave an AUC of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.85-0.93). Disease severity, as measured by Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score or the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IV score, was not a significant confounding variable. The diagnostic utility o f SeptiCyte® Lab was evaluated by comparison to various clinical and laboratory parameters that would be available to a clinician within 24 hours of ICU admission. SeptiCyte® Lab was significantly better at differentiating sepsis from infection-negative systemic inflammation than all tested parameters, both singly and in various logistic combinations. SeptiCyte® Lab more than halved the diagnostic error rate compared to PCT in all tested cohorts or cohort combinations. Conclusions: SeptiCyte® Lab is a rapid molecular assay that may be clinically useful in the management of ICU patients with systemic inflammation. SIRS and Sepsis ICU patients, admission samples Retrospective, mutli-site sutdy using retrospective physician adjudication as a comparator
Project description:Neonates manifest a unique host response to sepsis even among other children. Preterm neonates may experience sepsis soon after birth or during often protracted birth hospitalizations as they attain physiologic maturity. We examined the transcriptome using genome-wide expression profiling on prospectively collected peripheral blood samples from infants evaluated for sepsis within 24 hours after clinical presentation. Simultaneous plasma samples were examined for alterations in inflammatory mediators. Group designation (sepsis or uninfected) was determined retrospectively based on clinical exam and laboratory results over the next 72 hours from the time of evaluation. Unsupervised analysis showed the major node of separation between groups was timing of sepsis episode relative to birth (early, <3 days or late, >3 days). Principal component analyses revealed significant differences between patients with early or late sepsis despite the presence of similar key immunologic pathway aberrations in both groups. Unique to neonates, the uninfected state and host response to sepsis is significantly affected by timing relative to birth. Future therapeutic approaches may need to be tailored to the timing of the infectious event based on post-natal age.
Project description:In sepsis, limited food intake and increased energy expenditure induce a starvation response, which is compromised by a quick decline in expression of hepatic PPARα, a transcription factor essential in intracellular catabolism of free fatty acids. The mechanism upstream of this PPARα downregulation is unknown. We found that sepsis causes a progressive hepatic loss-of-function of HNF4α, which has strong impact on the expression of several important nuclear receptors, including PPARα. HNF4α depletion in hepatocytes dramatically increases sepsis lethality, steatosis and organ damage and prevents an adequate response towards IL6, which is critical for liver regeneration and survival. An HNF4α agonist protects against sepsis at all possible levels, irrespectively of bacterial loads, suggesting HNF4α is crucial in disease tolerance to sepsis. In conclusion, hepatic HNF4α fails in sepsis, causing PPARα downregulation and metabolic problems and a disturbed IL6-mediated acute phase response. The data open new insights and therapeutic options in sepsis.