Effectual components of Polygonum ciliinerve protects against Staphylococcus aureus infection with immunomodulatory functions in C57BL/6 mice

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of root tuber of Polygonum ciliinerve (Nakai) ohwi (rPC) which has been used to treat bacterial infection in traditional Chinese medicine. Methods: With the mouse model of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) pneumonia, the phenotype of rPC treated mice, including body weight, mortality, lung slices and bacterial burden were evaluated. Furthermore, inflammatory factors in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were determined by ELISA and the distribution of T cells in lung was assessed by immunofluorescence assay. Results: rPC treatment could dose-dependently reduce weight loss and mortality in S. aureus-infected mice. Upon 10 mg/ml rPC treatment, S. aureus-infected mice showed about 8 grams increase in body weight (P<0.001) and 50% enhancement in mortality. The integrity of lung tissue and bacterial burden were also improved by rPC treatment. Moreover, rPC was found to modulate the immune response in infection. Conclusion: rPC has therapeutic potential for S. aureus infections and pneumonia with immunomodulatory functions.

Sepse por Staphylococus aureus resistente à meticilina adquirida na comunidade no sul do Brasil / Sepsis due to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in southern Brazil

Staphylococcus aureus resistente à meticilina foi inicialmente descrito como um típico microrganismo adquirido em infecções nosocomiais. No entanto, nos últimos anos Staphylococcus aureus resistente à meticilina adquirido na comunidade é causa de infecções de pele e tecidos moles, mas infecções graves como pneumonia e sepse podem ocorrer. Este relato descreve um caso de sepse em criança, complicado com pneumonia secundária a lesão em partes moles por Staphylococcus aureus resistente à meticilina adquirido na comunidade no Sul do Brasil. O paciente foi atendido em Unidade de Emergência com história de ferimento provocado por trauma em membro inferior que evoluiu para celulite, pneumonia e sepse.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was initially described as a typical microorganism acquired in nosocomial infections. However, over recent years, community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has been a cause of skin and soft-tissue infections. Serious infections such as pneumonia and sepsis can also occur. This report describes a case of sepsis in a child that was complicated by pneumonia secondary to soft tissue lesions that were due to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in southern Brazil. The patient was attended at the Emergency Unit with a history of injury caused by lower-limb trauma that evolved to cellulitis, pneumonia and sepsis.

Risk factors and evolution of Ventilator-associated pneumonia by Staphylococcus aureus sensitive or resistant to oxacillin in patients at the intensive care unit of a Brazilian University Hospital

This study investigated the participation and risk factors of VAP by resistant (ORSA) or sensitive (OSSA) S. aureus to oxacillin and evaluated the implications of adequate or inadequate empirical antimicrobial therapeutics in its evolution in patients interned in a mixing ICU of adults. A patient control-case study with PAVs by ORSA and OSSA was carried out from May 2005 to April 2007 involving 993 patients. VAP was defined based on clinical, radiological, and microbiological (> 106 CFU/mL count in the tracheal aspirate) criteria. Four hundred and seventy four (47.7 percent) patients were submitted to mechanical ventilation with 141 (29.7 percent) VAPs, with S. aureus as the most frequent agent (41.2 percent). The phenotype ORSA accounted for 47.5 percent and OSSA for 52.5 percent, predominant in late-onset VAPs with frequencies of 93.1 percent and 68.7 percent, respectively. Age > 60, use of corticoid and previous antibiotic therapy were related (p<0.05) with the development of VAP by ORSA. Mortality rate was higher (p>0.05) in the group with VAP by ORSA (37.9 percent). S. aureus was the main agent of VAPs, around half by ORSA, associated with age, late-onset VAP development and previous use of antibiotics and corticoids, but with no significant difference in mortality compared with VAP by OSSA.

Cost-effectiveness of linezolid versus vancomycin in mechanical ventilation-associated nosocomial pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus

Linezolid, an oxazolidinone-class antimicrobial agent, is a new drug; its use has frequently been questioned due to its high price. However, recent trials have demonstrated that the use of linezolid in mechanical ventilation-associated nosocomial pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VAP-MRSA) may be justified due to its improved efficacy compared to vancomycin. Price and cost have different magnitudes, and clinical efficacy should always be considered in the decision-making process. Our objective was to determine whether linezolid treatment was more cost-effective than vancomycin for treating VAP-MRSA. METHODOLOGY: Elaboration of an economic model from a metanalysis of previous clinical trials comparing both drugs, through a cost-effectiveness analysis. Costs of the treatments were calculated using Brazilian parameters and were compared to the results obtained in the metanalysis. In order to compare the results with real life conditions, costs were calculated for both name brand and for generic vancomycin. RESULTS: The cost (May/2004) per unit (vial, ampoule or bag) was R$ 47.73 for the name-brand vancomycin, R$ 14.45 for generic vancomycin and R$ 214.04 for linezolid. Linezolid's efficacy in VAP-MRSA according to the metanalysis was 62.2 percent and vancomycin's efficacy was 21.2 percent. The total cost per cured patient was R$ 13,231.65 for the name-brand vancomycin, R$ 11,277.59 for generic vancomycin and R$ 7,764.72 for linezolid. CONCLUSION: Despite the higher price per unit, linezolid was more cost-effective than vancomycin.

Tratamento das pneumonias / Treatment of pneumonias

O termo pneumonia indica uma inflamaçäo, em geral aguda, do parênquima pulmonar. O autor, no trabalho a seguir, näo tem a intençäo de tentar uma classificaçäo completa de todas as pneumonias, mas tem o propósito de fazer indicaçöes medicamenosas daquelas mais comuns, relacionando medidas de ordem geral e específicas junto com as formas de tratamento mais indicadas para cada casos

Vancomicina nas pneumonias causadas por Staphilococcus aureus resistentes a oxacilina / Vancomycin in pneumonias due to Staphylococcus aureus resistants to oxacillin

Foram estudados 14 casos de pneumonias estafilocócica resistente a Oxacilina. A idade dos pacientes variou entre 1a 2m a 11a 2m, sendo 5 do sexo feminino e 9 do masculino. Todos apresentavam febre, toxemia e pneumonia com empiema pleural necessitando drenagem torácica. O diagnóstico etiológico foi estabelecido através do exame bacteriológico do exsudato pleural. Após 15 dias, em média, do início do tratamento com Oxacilina, na ausência de melhora clínica e radiológica, corroborada pelo isolamento de Staphylococcus aureus resistente ao antibiótico em uso, era introduzida a Vancomicina com evoluçäo satisfatória e resoluçäo do processo pulmonar em 3 semanas. Näo observamos efeitos colaterais, exceto em um caso que apresentou rush cutâneo eritemato máculo papular de caráter transitório