Demographics of patients.

<p>CAP, community-acquired pneumonia; MV, requirement for mechanical ventilation; ALI, acute lung injury (only for pediatric CAP cohort); ALI/ARDS, acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome; NA – not assessed; * range of Age: median (minimum, maximum).</p

Lack of Association of the Caspase-12 Long Allele with Community-Acquired Pneumonia in People of African Descent

<div><p>Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of sepsis. Active full-length caspase-12 (CASP12L), confined to the people of African descent, has been associated with increased susceptibility to and mortality from severe sepsis. The objective of this study was to determine whether CASP12L was a marker for susceptibility and/or severity of CAP. We examined three CAP cohorts and two control populations: 241 adult Memphis African American CAP patients, 443 pediatric African American CAP patients, 90 adult South African CAP patients, 120 Memphis healthy adult African American controls and 405 adult Chicago African American controls. Clinical outcomes including mortality, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), septic shock or severe sepsis, need for mechanical ventilation, and <i>S. pneumoniae</i> bacteremia. Neither in the three individual CAP cohorts nor in the combined CAP cohorts, was mortality in CASP12L carriers significantly different from that in non-CASP12L carriers. No statistically significant association between genotype and any measures of CAP severity was found in any cohort. We conclude that the functional CASP12L allele is not a marker for susceptibility and/or severity of CAP.</p></div

Frequency of caspase-12 C125T genotypes in South African community-acquired pneumonia patients related to various clinical outcomes.

<p>MV: mechanical ventilation.</p

Frequency of caspase-12 genotypes in adult, African and pediatric community-acquired pneumonia and healthy control populations.

<p>CAP: community-acquired pneumonia; CC: CASP12L homozygotes; CT: CASP 12L heterozygote; TT: CASP12S homozygotes; * In the South African CAP cohort, 45.6% carried the caspase-12 C allele (CASP12L), significantly higher than in either controls or CAP patients in the US cohorts (<i>p</i><0.001).</p

Frequency of caspase-12 C125T genotypes in pediatric community-acquired pneumonia patients related to various clinical outcomes.

<p>MV: mechanical ventilation; ALI/ARDS, acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome; BPD: bronchopulmonary dysplasia; CHD: congenital heart disease.</p

Characteristics of D39 <i>S</i>. <i>pneumoniae</i> mutants used across experiments.

<p>Characteristics of D39 <i>S</i>. <i>pneumoniae</i> mutants used across experiments.</p

Mesothelial cells express Hsp72 and Hsp73 on the cell surface.

<p>Non-permeabilised mesothelial cells were assessed for expression of cell surface-associated HSP70 proteins by immunocytochemistry. The constitutive Hsp73 and stress-induced Hsp72 forms were examined separately. The figures are representative of three independent experiments. Bar  = 20 μm.</p

Pleural fluid Hsp72 levels in infection-related and non-infective effusions.

<p>Pleural fluids Hsp72 levels were compared among infection-related and non-infective effusions in the Spanish cohort. A) Median Hsp72 levels were significantly higher in infection-related pleural effusions compared to effusions of non-infective etiologies (p<0.0001). B) Compared to non-infective effusions, Hsp72 levels were also higher when in PPE (p<0.001) and empyema (p<0.01).</p

Correlation of <i>S</i>. <i>pneumoniae</i> (n = 25) growth in pleural fluid with and without cells (n = 11 pairs) expressed as the fold change from baseline inoculum at 24 hours (n = 275 pairs), p<0.001.

<p>Correlation of <i>S</i>. <i>pneumoniae</i> (n = 25) growth in pleural fluid with and without cells (n = 11 pairs) expressed as the fold change from baseline inoculum at 24 hours (n = 275 pairs), p<0.001.</p

Pleural fluid characteristics for individual experiments.

<p>Pleural fluid characteristics for individual experiments.</p