Early Test For Fungal Infections – Killer of The Very Sick
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At Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy researchers have successfully created a working early gene-expression test for the fungus Candida in mice. If doctors can test early for fungal infections lives can be saved.
Candidemia is a fungus infection that is lethal in hospitals for the very sick and those with compromised immune systems. 10-15% of these patients die in the first 24 hours of a fungal infection if it is not detected, and that goes up to 30% if the infection is not found in three days. Geoffrey Ginsburg, M.D., Ph.D., director of Duke University’s Center for Genomic Medicine in the Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, professor of medicine, and the senior author of the study says,
“This study provides the basis for development a blood-gene expression test in humans to detect a life-threatening infection earlier than can be done using currently available methods. Earlier detection will lead to earlier treatment and save lives. This work is also part of a portfolio of blood gene-expression-based tests we are developing to detect viral, bacterial and now fungal infections that will lead to more precise diagnosis and more appropriate therapies for infectious disease. This is personalized medicine.”
Having successfully complete this on mice the scientists are now looking at human specimens to create a test similar that can used on humans. According to co-lead author Aimee Zaas, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Duke Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, and the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, “We are redefining the way that physicians identify infectious disease using a combination of host-based blood RNA tests with traditional microbiology methods.”
The reason candidemia is hard to diagnose is that the symptoms are quite like those of other bloodstream infections. In order to treat the patient successfully doctors need to determine if the patient has a fungal or bacterial infection and that can take 2 to 3 days of looking at blood culture tests. Even then results are only positive half the time. Zaas adds,
“Our results show that this new gene-signature test works well to find candidemia in mice that had the infection versus mice without infection. We were very pleased to learn that we could further distinguish the fungal infection from a staph infection, another bloodstream disease that shares the same set of symptoms.”
Though the focus was on candidemia in these first tests, because of the high mortality rate in hospitals, this study may also have found a way to detect a number of different infections.
Source: ScienceDaily.Com
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100303141928.htm
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