scholarly journals Radionuclide Imaging of Fungal Infections and Correlation with the Host Defense Response

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 407
Author(s):  
Alfred O. Ankrah ◽  
Mike M. Sathekge ◽  
Rudi A. J. O. Dierckx ◽  
Andor W. J. M. Glaudemans
Keyword(s):  
Host Response ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
White Blood Cells ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Human Response ◽  
Nutritional Immunity ◽  
Host Defense Response ◽  
Radiolabelled Monoclonal Antibodies

The human response to invading fungi includes a series of events that detect, kill, or clear the fungi. If the metabolic host response is unable to eliminate the fungi, an infection ensues. Some of the host response’s metabolic events to fungi can be imaged with molecules labelled with radionuclides. Several important clinical applications have been found with radiolabelled biomolecules of inflammation. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose is the tracer that has been most widely investigated in the host defence of fungi. This tracer has added value in the early detection of infection, in staging and visualising dissemination of infection, and in monitoring antifungal treatment. Radiolabelled antimicrobial peptides showed promising results, but large prospective studies in fungal infection are lacking. Other tracers have also been used in imaging events of the host response, such as the migration of white blood cells at sites of infection, nutritional immunity in iron metabolism, and radiolabelled monoclonal antibodies. Many tracers are still at the preclinical stage. Some tracers require further studies before translation into clinical use. The application of therapeutic radionuclides offers a very promising clinical application of these tracers in managing drug-resistant fungi.

scholarly journals Herbal Products and Their Active Constituents Used Alone and in Combination with Antifungal Drugs against Drug-Resistant Candida sp.

Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 655
Author(s):  
Anna Herman ◽  
Andrzej Przemysław Herman
Keyword(s):  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Antifungal Drugs ◽  
Membrane Transporters ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Herbal Products ◽  
Active Constituents ◽  
Over Expression ◽  
Candida Sp ◽  
Current State

Clinical isolates of Candida yeast are the most common cause of opportunistic fungal infections resistant to certain antifungal drugs. Therefore, it is necessary to detect more effective antifungal agents that would be successful in overcoming such infections. Among them are some herbal products and their active constituents.The purpose of this review is to summarize the current state of knowledge onherbal products and their active constituents havingantifungal activity against drug-resistant Candida sp. used alone and in combination with antifungal drugs.The possible mechanisms of their action on drug-resistant Candida sp. including (1) inhibition of budding yeast transformation into hyphae; (2) inhibition of biofilm formation; (3) inhibition of cell wall or cytoplasmic membrane biosynthesis; (4) ROS production; and (5) over-expression of membrane transporters will be also described.

scholarly journals The Added Value of [18F]FDG PET/CT in the Management of Invasive Fungal Infections

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Alfred O. Ankrah ◽  
Dina Creemers-Schild ◽  
Bart de Keizer ◽  
Hans C. Klein ◽  
Rudi A. J. O. Dierckx ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fdg Pet ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Invasive Fungal Infections ◽  
Added Value ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Imaging Studies ◽  
Imaging Methods ◽  
Pet Ct ◽  
18F Fdg ◽  
Fdg Pet Ct

Anatomy-based imaging methods are the usual imaging methods used in assessing invasive fungal infections (IFIs). [18F]FDG PET/CT has also been used in the evaluation of IFIs. We assessed the added value of [18F]FDG PET/CT when added to the most frequently used anatomy-based studies in the evaluation of IFIs. The study was conducted in two University Medical Centers in the Netherlands. Reports of [18F]FDG PET/CT and anatomy-based imaging performed within two weeks of the [18F]FDG PET/CT scan were retrieved, and the presence and sites of IFI lesions were documented for each procedure. We included 155 [18F]FDG PET/CT scans performed in 73 patients. A total of 216 anatomy-based studies including 80 chest X-rays, 89 computed tomography studies, 14 magnetic resonance imaging studies, and 33 ultrasound imaging studies were studied. The anatomy-based studies were concordant with the [18F]FDG PET/CT for 94.4% of the scans performed. [18F]FDG PET/CT detected IFI lesions outside of the areas imaged by the anatomy-based studies in 48.6% of the scans. In 74% of the patients, [18F]FDG PET/CT added value in the management of the IFIs.

scholarly journals Impact of antifungal resistance in Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 174 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ellis ◽  
Tania Sorrell ◽  
Sharon Chen
Keyword(s):  
Antifungal Activity ◽  
Selection Pressure ◽  
Opportunistic Infections ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Antifungal Drugs ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Populations At Risk ◽  
Complete Resistance ◽  
Major Increase

The last two to three decades have seen a major increase in invasive fungal infections (IFIs), a small, but increasing proportion of which are caused by pathogens with partial or complete resistance to antifungal drugs. The increase in IFIs has largely been associated with the increase in immunocompromised and critically ill patients. Opportunistic infections with relatively drug-resistant environmental fungi account for much of the resistance. In addition, amongst the only fungal species to colonise humans, Candida, two species that are resistant (C. krusei) or relatively resistant (C. glabrata) to fluconazole have emerged. In part this is explained by the selection pressure exerted by widespread use of fluconazole. Together with the introduction of new antifungal drugs with selective and/or variable antifungal activity, these changes have stimulated interest in understanding mechanisms and origins of resistance, the identification of resistance in the laboratory and its relationship to clinical outcomes, and in surveillance of clinical isolates and populations at risk of IFIs.

scholarly journals First Two Cases of Fungal Infections Associated with Multi-drug Resistant Yeast, Fereydounia khargensis

2016 ◽  
Vol 181 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 531-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratna Mohd Tap ◽  
Nur Yasmin Ramli ◽  
Parameswari Sabaratnam ◽  
Rohaidah Hashim ◽  
Ahmed Rafezzan Ahmed Bakri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Infections ◽  
Drug Resistant

Comparison of longitudinal leukocyte gene expression after burn injury or trauma-hemorrhage in mice

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Lederer ◽  
Bernard H. Brownstein ◽  
M. Cecilia Lopez ◽  
Sandra MacMillan ◽  
Adam J. Delisle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Host Response ◽  
Mouse Genome ◽  
Burn Injury ◽  
Cell Cycle Control ◽  
White Blood Cells ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Different Types

A primary objective of the large collaborative project entitled “Inflammation and the Host Response to Injury” was to identify leukocyte genes that are differentially expressed after two different types of injury in mouse models and to test the hypothesis that both forms of injury would induce similar changes in gene expression. We report here the genes that are expressed in white blood cells (WBCs) and in splenocytes at 2 h, 1 day, 3 days, and 7 days after burn and sham injury or trauma-hemorrhage (T-H) and sham T-H. Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430 2.0 GeneChips were used to profile gene expression, and the results were analyzed by dCHIP, BRB Array Tools, and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software. We found that the highest number of genes differentially expressed following burn injury were at day 1 for both WBCs (4,989) and for splenocytes (4,715) and at day 1 for WBCs (1,167) and at day 3 for splenocytes (1,117) following T-H. The maximum overlap of genes that were expressed after both forms of injury were at day 1 in WBCs (136 genes) and at day 7 in splenocytes (433 genes). IPA revealed that the cell-to-cell signaling, cell death, immune response, antiapoptosis, and cell cycle control pathways were affected most significantly. In summary, this report provides a database of genes that are modulated in WBCs and splenocytes at sequential time points after burn or T-H in mice and reveals that relatively few leukocyte genes are expressed in common after these two forms of injury.

scholarly journals The network interplay of type 1 interferon and toll-like receptor signaling cascades hallmarks the immune response against Candida spp. infections

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranieri Salgado ◽  
Dennyson Fonseca ◽  
Alexandre Marques ◽  
Sarah Napoleao ◽  
Tábata França ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mononuclear Cells ◽  
Fungal Infections ◽  
White Blood Cells ◽  
Host Susceptibility ◽  
Candida Spp ◽  
Inborn Errors ◽  
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽  
Systems Immunology ◽  
Viral Responses ◽  
Peripheral White Blood Cells

Abstract Here we employed a stepwise, integrative, and systems immunology approach to unravel the human immune responses to C. albicans and C. auris by analyzing publicly available human transcriptome data. Modular gene co-expression analysis revealed an interplay between Toll-like Receptors (TLR) and Interferon (IFN) networks. Enrichment analyses and hierarchical clustering revealed that this relationship is consistently triggered in peripheral white blood cells, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and dendritic cell transcriptomes, involving IFN-γ, IFN-α/β- (e.g., ISGs, IRFs, SOCS, and GBPs) and TLR-associated molecules (TLR3,4,7/8,9, and TRAF-mediated NF-κB). These TLR- and IFN-associated genes cluster and increase their correlation levels after Candida stimulation, forming a highly interconnected interferome network, which contains an immune overlap with the anti-viral responses. Notably, our analysis shed new lights on the molecular basis of several genes associated with inborn errors of immunity that cause host susceptibility to fungal infections such as Candida spp., which reinforce our transcriptomic findings.

scholarly journals Blue biotechnology – drugs from our o ceans

2010 ◽  
pp. 107-110
Author(s):  
Lekha Menon Margassery
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Infections ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Blood Stream ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Modern Life ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Transplant Patients ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Anti Fungal

Fungi are one of the major health concerns in modern life. It is known that up to 20% of patients with blood stream infections in intensive care units are affected by disease producing fungi such as Candida and Aspergillus, sometimes dominating the infections in doses that could be lethal. Patients who are immune-compromised/ immune-suppressed – including the elderly, HIV-infected patients, chemotherapy recipients, and transplant patients - are more prone to fungal infections. There are anti-fungal drugs available, but they are expensive and can have severe side effects such as nephrotoxicity (kidney damage). In addition, a major concern is that fungi such as Candida can become drug-resistant. Therefore there is a pressing need to identify new drugs to treat fungi and the diseases associated with them. Oceans cover about 70% of the earth and it is highly diverse in terms of its wealth – the marine organisms. It has been seen ...

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