5 research outputs found
High pneumococcal density correlates with more mucosal inflammation and reduced respiratory syncytial virus disease severity in infants
Nasopharyngeal gene expression, a novel approach to study the course of respiratory syncytial virus infection
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes mild infections in the vast majority of children. However, in some cases, it causes severe disease, such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Development of severe RSV infection is determined by the host response. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to identify biomarkers associated with severe RSV infection. To identify biomarkers, nasopharyngeal gene expression was profiled by microarray studies, resulting in the selection of five genes: ubiquitin D, tetraspanin 8, mucin 13, β-microseminoprotein and chemokine ligand 7. These genes were validated by real-time quantitative PCR in an independent validation cohort, which confirmed significant differences in gene expression between mildly and severely infected and between recovery and acute patients. Nasopharyngeal aspirate samples are regularly taken when a viral respiratory tract infection is suspected. In this article, we describe a method to discriminate between mild and severe RSV infection based on differential host gene expression. The combination of pathogen detection and host gene expression analysis in nasopharyngeal aspirates will significantly improve the diagnosis and prognosis of respiratory tract infections
Nasopharyngeal gene expression, a novel approach to study the course of respiratory syncytial virus infection
Antigen-Independent Restriction of Pneumococcal Density by Mucosal Adjuvant Cholera Toxin Subunit B
Aptasensors for viral diagnostics
Novel viral diagnostic tools need to be affordable, fast,
accurate and easy to use with sensitivity and specificity
equivalent or superior to current standards. At present, viral
diagnostics are based on direct detection of viral components or
indirect detection by measuring antibodies generated in response
to viral infection. While sensitivity of detection and
quantification are still important challenges, we expect major
advances from new assay formats and synthetic binding molecules,
such as aptamers. Compared to traditional antibody-based
detection, aptamers could provide faster adaptation to
continuously evolving virus strains and higher discriminating
capacity between specific virus serotypes. Aptamers are very
stable and easily modifiable, so are ideal molecules for
detection and chemical sensing applications. Here, we review the
use of aptasensors for detection of viral pathogens and consider
the feasibility of aptasensors to become standard devices for
point-of-care diagnostics of viruses. © 2015