Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score for Evaluating Organ Failure and Outcome of Severe Maternal Morbidity in Obstetric Intensive Care

Objective. To evaluate the performance of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score in cases of severe maternal morbidity (SMM). Design. Retrospective study of diagnostic validation. Setting. An obstetric intensive care unit (ICU) in Brazil. Population. 673 women with SMM. Main Outcome Measures. mortality and SOFA score. Methods. Organ failure was evaluated according to maximum score for each one of its six components. The total maximum SOFA score was calculated using the poorest result of each component, reflecting the maximum degree of alteration in systemic organ function. Results. highest total maximum SOFA score was associated with mortality, 12.06 ± 5.47 for women who died and 1.87 ± 2.56 for survivors. There was also a significant correlation between the number of failing organs and maternal mortality, ranging from 0.2% (no failure) to 85.7% (≥3 organs). Analysis of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) confirmed the excellent performance of total maximum SOFA score for cases of SMM (AUC = 0.958). Conclusions. Total maximum SOFA score proved to be an effective tool for evaluating severity and estimating prognosis in cases of SMM. Maximum SOFA score may be used to conceptually define and stratify the degree of severity in cases of SMM

Comparison of the voltammetric behavior of metronidazole at a DNA-modified glassy carbon electrode, a mercury thin film electrode and a glassy carbon electrode

The electroanalytical performance at three electrodes: DNA-modified galssy carbon electrode, mercury thin film electrode and glassy carbon electrode, for the study of the electrochemical reduction of metronidazole is compared. All three electrodes showed a similar trend in the reduction mechanism for metronidazole, depenent on pH in the acid and neutral region and independent in alkaline media, although there was a shift in the peak potentials to more negative values when a bare glassy carbon electrode was used compared to the other two. Besides the advantage of using a solid electrode for the reduction of metronidazole, the DNA-modified galssy carbon electrode enables a lower detection limit of 1.0 muM owing to the preconecentration of the drug on the electrode surface, which is not the case for the mercury thin film or bare glassy carbon electrodes

The pathogenesis of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm-associated infections: the host and the pathogen perspective

Book of Abstracts of CEB Annual Meeting 2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of the Specificity and Biochemical Characterization of Metalloproteases Isolated from Eupenicillium javanicum Using Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Peptides

Enzymes have important features that may facilitate their application in industrial processes and have been used as alternatives to chemical catalysts. In particular, proteases can be isolated from microorganisms, which provide important sources of advantageous enzymes for industrial processes. For example, Eupenicillium javanicum is a filamentous fungus that has been shown to express industrially applicable enzymes and chemical components, such as antifungal compounds. The biotechnological potential of E. javanicum and proteases made us search a novel protease from this microorganism. The macromolecule was isolated, the main biochemical properties was evaluated, and the specificity of the protease subsites was determined. The protease was produced under solid-state bioprocess with wheat bran and isolated by two chromatography steps with yield of 27.5% and 12.4-fold purification. The molecular mass was estimated at 30 kDa. The N-terminal sequence of the first 20 amino acid residues was AVGAGYNASVALALEKALNN. The enzyme presented higher proteolytic activity at pH 6.0 and 60 degrees C. The protease is stable at wide range of pH values and temperatures and in the presence of surfactants. The primed side of the catalytic site showed the highest catalytic efficiency of the enzyme isolated from E. javanicum. The S'(1) subsite is responsible for catalyzing the protease reaction with substrates with tyrosine in P'(1). These findings provide important insights into the biochemical characterization of a highly active protease from E. javanicum and may facilitate the development of industrial processes involving this protease.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2012/24703-8, 2011/06986-0]Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Pharmaceut Sci Ribeirao Preto, Dept Pharmaceut Sci, Ribeirao Preto, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Paulista Med Sch, Dept Biophys, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Sch Pharmaceut Sci Ribeirao Preto, Dept Phys & Chem, Ribeirao Preto, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Paulista Med Sch, Dept Biophys, Sao Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 2012/24703-8FAPESP: 2011/06986-0Web of Scienc

Vaccination of Mice with Salmonella Expressing VapA: Mucosal and Systemic Th1 Responses Provide Protection against Rhodococcus equi Infection

Conventional vaccines to prevent the pneumonia caused by Rhodococcus equi have not been successful. We have recently demonstrated that immunization with Salmonella enterica Typhimurium expressing the VapA antigen protects mice against R. equi infection. We now report that oral vaccination of mice with this recombinant strain results in high and persistent fecal levels of antigen-specific IgA, and specific proliferation of the spleen cells of immunized mice in response to the in vitro stimulation with R. equi antigen. After in vitro stimulation, spleen cells of immunized mice produce high levels of Th1 cytokines and show a prominent mRNA expression of the Th1 transcription factor T-bet, in detriment of the Th2 transcription factor GATA-3. Following R. equi challenge, a high H2O2, NO, IL-12, and IFN-γ content is detected in the organs of immunized mice. On the other hand, TNF-α and IL-4 levels are markedly lower in the organs of vaccinated mice, compared with the non-vaccinated ones. The IL-10 content and the mRNA transcription level of TGF-β are also higher in the organs of immunized mice. A greater incidence of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and B lymphocytes is verified in vaccinated mice. However, there is no difference between vaccinated and non-vaccinated mice in terms of the frequency of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells. Finally, we show that the vaccination confers a long-term protection against R. equi infection. Altogether, these data indicate that the oral vaccination of mice with S. enterica Typhimurium expressing VapA induces specific and long-lasting humoral and cellular responses against the pathogen, which are appropriately regulated and allow tissue integrity after challenge

A combined approach for comparative exoproteome analysis of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis

Background: Bacterial exported proteins represent key components of the host-pathogen interplay. Hence, we sought to implement a combined approach for characterizing the entire exoproteome of the pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the etiological agent of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) in sheep and goats. Results: An optimized protocol of three-phase partitioning (TPP) was used to obtain the C. pseudotuberculosis exoproteins, and a newly introduced method of data-independent MS acquisition (LC-MSE) was employed for protein identification and label-free quantification. Additionally, the recently developed tool SurfG+ was used for in silico prediction of sub-cellular localization of the identified proteins. In total, 93 different extracellular proteins of C. pseudotuberculosis were identified with high confidence by this strategy; 44 proteins were commonly identified in two different strains, isolated from distinct hosts, then composing a core C. pseudotuberculosis exoproteome. Analysis with the SurfG+ tool showed that more than 75% (70/93) of the identified proteins could be predicted as containing signals for active exportation. Moreover, evidence could be found for probable non-classical export of most of the remaining proteins. Conclusions: Comparative analyses of the exoproteomes of two C. pseudotuberculosis strains, in addition to comparison with other experimentally determined corynebacterial exoproteomes, were helpful to gain novel insights into the contribution of the exported proteins in the virulence of this bacterium. The results presented here compose the most comprehensive coverage of the exoproteome of a corynebacterial species so far