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MBio Jul 2024pneumonia (PjP) poses a serious risk to individuals with compromised immune systems, such as individuals with HIV/AIDS or undergoing immunosuppressive therapies for...
pneumonia (PjP) poses a serious risk to individuals with compromised immune systems, such as individuals with HIV/AIDS or undergoing immunosuppressive therapies for cancer or solid organ transplants. Severe PjP triggers excessive lung inflammation, resulting in lung function decline and consequential alveolar damage, potentially culminating in acute respiratory distress syndrome. Non-HIV patients face a 30%-60% mortality rate, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of inflammatory responses in PjP. Prior research emphasized macrophages in infections, neglecting neutrophils' role in tissue damage. Consequently, the overemphasis on macrophages led to an incomplete understanding of the role of neutrophils and inflammatory responses. In the current investigation, our RNAseq studies on a murine surrogate model of PjP revealed heightened activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and NETosis cell death pathways in their lungs. Immunofluorescence staining confirmed neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) presence in the lungs of the -infected mice, validating our findings. Moreover, isolated neutrophils exhibited NETosis when directly stimulated with . Isolated NETs compromised viability , highlighting the potential role of neutrophils in controlling fungal growth and promoting inflammation during pneumonia through NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and NETosis. These pathways, essential for inflammation and pathogen elimination, bear the risk of uncontrolled activation leading to excessive tissue damage and persistent inflammation. This pioneering study is the first to identify the formation of NETs and inflammasomes during infection, paving the way for comprehensive investigations into treatments aimed at mitigating lung damage and augmenting survival rates for individuals with .IMPORTANCE pneumonia (PjP) affects individuals with weakened immunity, such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, and organ transplant patients. Severe PjP triggers lung inflammation, impairing function and potentially causing acute respiratory distress syndrome. Non-HIV individuals face a 30%-60% mortality rate, underscoring the need for deeper insight into PjP's inflammatory responses. Past research focused on macrophages in managing infection and its inflammation, while the role of neutrophils was generally overlooked. In contrast, our findings in -infected mouse lungs showed neutrophil involvement during inflammation and increased expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and NETosis pathways. Detection of neutrophil extracellular traps further indicated their involvement in the inflammatory process. Although beneficial in combating infection, unregulated neutrophil activation poses a potential threat to lung tissues. Understanding the behavior of neutrophils in infections is crucial for controlling detrimental reactions and formulating treatments to reduce lung damage, ultimately improving the survival rates of individuals with PjP.
PubMed: 38953359
DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01409-24 -
Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Nov 2023To detect the possible safety signal of purine antimetabolites associated with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia through disproportionality analysis in the FDA Adverse...
PURPOSE
To detect the possible safety signal of purine antimetabolites associated with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia through disproportionality analysis in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) Database.
METHODS
A case/non-case retrospective disproportionality analysis was performed in the publicly available FAERS database using AERSmine (2004Q1-2021Q3). Four models were developed to explore the signal strength of PAs among different populations with possible confounding factors. Reporting odds ratio (ROR) and Proportional reporting ratio (PRR) was used as the data mining algorithm for the analysis. A value of ROR-1.96SE > 1 and PRR ≥ 2 with an associated X value of 4 or more was considered the threshold for a signal.
RESULTS
A total of 7073 reports associated with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia were present in the database, of which 899 reports were associated with purine antimetabolites. A crude signal strength of ROR 15.76(14.70-16.91) was obtained for purine antimetabolites associated PJP, with the highest signal strength reported with fludarabine and thioguanine [ROR 19.63(17.42-22.13); 19.45(13.21-28.63)]. Stratifying the cases based on autoimmune disorders and the cancer population revealed an ROR of 3.33(2.46-4.50) and 2.93(2.26-3.79) respectively. The highest risk of PJP with use of PAs was observed amongst children with a higher risk of nearly 2 times than the adult population [ROR 11.57(9.16-14.62)].
CONCLUSIONS
Our study provided evidence on the occurrence of PJP with the use of purine antimetabolites among the autoimmune and cancer population. We identified signals for PJP with azathioprine, mercaptopurine, thioguanine, cladribine, fludarabine, and clofarabine. More research with a superior epidemiological study design of a defined population is required to validate these findings.
Topics: Adult; Child; Humans; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis; Retrospective Studies; Thioguanine; Neoplasms; Antimetabolites
PubMed: 37265365
DOI: 10.1002/pds.5647 -
BioRxiv : the Preprint Server For... Feb 2024pneumonia (PjP) poses a serious risk to individuals with compromised immune systems, such as individuals with HIV/AIDS or undergoing immunosuppressive therapies for...
pneumonia (PjP) poses a serious risk to individuals with compromised immune systems, such as individuals with HIV/AIDS or undergoing immunosuppressive therapies for cancer or solid organ transplants. Severe PjP triggers excessive lung inflammation, resulting in lung function decline and consequential alveolar damage, potentially culminating in acute respiratory distress syndrome. Non-HIV patients face a 30-60%mortality rate, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of inflammatory responses in PjP. Prior research emphasized macrophages in infections, neglecting neutrophils' role in tissue damage. Consequently, the overemphasis on macrophages led to an incomplete understanding of the role of neutrophils and inflammatory responses. In the current investigation, our RNAseq studies on a murine surrogate model of PjP revealed heightened activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and NETosis cell death pathways in their lungs. Immunofluorescence staining confirmed Neutrophil Extracellular Trap (NET) presence in the lungs of the -infected mice, validating our findings. Moreover, isolated neutrophils exhibited NETosis when directly stimulated with . While isolated NETs did not compromise viability, our data highlight the potential role of neutrophils in promoting inflammation during pneumonia through NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and NETosis. These pathways, essential for inflammation and pathogen elimination, bear the risk of uncontrolled activation leading to excessive tissue damage and persistent inflammation. This pioneering study is the first to identify the formation of NETs and inflammasomes during infection, paving the way for comprehensive investigations into treatments aimed at mitigating lung damage and augmenting survival rates for individuals with PjP.
PubMed: 38405901
DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.16.580773 -
Frontiers in Pharmacology 2023To mine the adverse drug event (ADE) signals of upadacitinib based on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database to provide...
To mine the adverse drug event (ADE) signals of upadacitinib based on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database to provide a reference for the safe clinical use of the drug. The ADE data for upadacitinib from Q1 2004 to Q1 2023 in the FAERS database were retrieved, and data mining was performed using the reporting odds ratio and proportional reporting ratio. A total of 21,213 ADE reports for the primary suspect drug upadacitinib were obtained, involving 444 ADEs. Patients aged ≥60 years (21.48%) and female (70.11%) patients were at a higher risk of ADEs with upadacitinib. After data cleaning, 182 ADE signals from 19 system organ classes (SOCs) were obtained. Six of these SOCs that occurred more frequently and were not mentioned in the drug labeling information included renal and urinary system (1.09%), reproductive and breast diseases (1.14%), ear and labyrinth disorders (0.57%), psychiatric disease (0.57%), blood and lymphatic system disorders (0.57%), and endocrine disorders (0.57%). The top ten most frequent ADE signals reported for upadacitinib were mainly related to: infections and infestations (7), investigations (2), and skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders (1). The top 10 ADEs in signal intensity ranking were lip neoplasm, ureteral neoplasm, eczema herpeticum, vulvar dysplasia, mediastinum neoplasm, eosinopenia, herpes zoster cutaneous disseminated, eye ulcer, acne cystic, and infection. The top 10 high-frequency events leading to serious adverse events were urinary tract infection (2.74%), herpes zoster (1.63%), diverticulitis (1.19%), bronchitis (0.68%), nasopharyngitis (0.68%), localised infection (0.66%), nephrolithiasis (0.66%), pulmonary thrombosis (0.66%), blood cholesterol increased (0.55%), and pneumonia (0.53%). Clinicians should be vigilant to upadacitinib-induced events in systems not covered in the drug labeling information and to new and highly signaled ADEs to ensure the safe and effective use of upadacitinib.
PubMed: 37663269
DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1200254 -
Internal and Emergency Medicine Sep 2023The diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) in patients presenting with severe pneumonia is challenging and delays in treatment were associated with worse... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
The diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) in patients presenting with severe pneumonia is challenging and delays in treatment were associated with worse prognosis. This study aimed to develop a rapid, easily available, noninvasive machine learning diagnostic model for PCP among patients with severe pneumonia.
METHODS
A retrospective study was performed in West China Hospital among consecutive patients with severe pneumonia who had undergone bronchoalveolar lavage for etiological evaluation between October 2010 and April 2021. Factors associated with PCP were identified and four diagnostic models were established using machine learning algorithms including Logistic Regression, eXtreme Gradient Boosting, Random Forest (RF) and LightGBM. The performance of these models were evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).
RESULTS
Ultimately, 704 patients were enrolled and randomly divided into a training set (n = 564) and a testing set (n = 140). Four factors were ultimately selected to establish the model including neutrophil, globulin, β-D-glucan and ground glass opacity. The RF model exhibited the greatest diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.907. The calibration curve and decision curve analysis also demonstrated its accuracy and applicability.
CONCLUSIONS
We constructed a PCP diagnostic model in patients with severe pneumonia using four easily available and noninvasive clinical indicators. With satisfying diagnostic performance and good clinical practicability, this model may help clinicians to make early diagnosis of PCP, reduce the delays of treatment and improve the prognosis among these patients.
Topics: Humans; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis; Pneumocystis carinii; Retrospective Studies; beta-Glucans; Bronchoalveolar Lavage
PubMed: 37530943
DOI: 10.1007/s11739-023-03353-1 -
Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation :... Nov 2023The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic revealed that our understanding of infectious complications and strategies to mitigate severe infections in patients... (Review)
Review
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic revealed that our understanding of infectious complications and strategies to mitigate severe infections in patients with glomerular diseases is limited. Beyond COVID-19, there are several infections that specifically impact care of patients receiving immunosuppressive measures. This review will provide an overview of six different infectious complications frequently encountered in patients with glomerular diseases, and will focus on recent achievements in terms of vaccine developments and understanding of the use of specific antimicrobial prophylaxis. These include influenza virus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, reactivation of a chronic or past infection with hepatitis B virus in cases receiving B-cell depletion, reactivation of cytomegalovirus, and cases of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. Varicella zoster virus infections are particularly frequent in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and an inactivated vaccine is available to use as an alternative to the attenuated vaccine in patients receiving immunosuppressants. As with COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine responses are generally impaired in older patients, and after recent administration of B-cell depleting agents, and high doses of mycophenolate mofetil and other immunosuppressants. Strategies to curb infectious complications are manifold and will be outlined in this review.
Topics: Aged; Humans; Anti-Infective Agents; COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccines; Immunocompromised Host; Immunosuppressive Agents; Kidney Diseases; Vaccines
PubMed: 37218705
DOI: 10.1093/ndt/gfad080 -
Open Forum Infectious Diseases Aug 2023pneumonia (PCP) is one of the most frequent opportunistic infections in people with HIV (PWH). However, there are limited data on long-term outcomes of PCP in the...
BACKGROUND
pneumonia (PCP) is one of the most frequent opportunistic infections in people with HIV (PWH). However, there are limited data on long-term outcomes of PCP in the antiretroviral therapy (ART) era.
METHODS
We conducted a secondary analysis of 2 prospective studies on 307 PWH, 81 with prior PCP, with a median follow-up of 96 weeks. Laboratory data were measured at protocol-defined intervals. We reviewed clinically indicated chest computerized tomography imaging in 63 patients with prior PCP at a median of 58 weeks after PCP diagnosis and pulmonary function tests (PFTs) of patients with (n = 10) and without (n = 14) prior PCP at a median of 18 weeks after ART initiation.
RESULTS
After 96 weeks of ART, PWH with prior PCP showed no significant differences in laboratory measurements, including CD4 count, when compared with those without prior PCP. Survival rates following ART initiation were similar. However, PWH with prior PCP had increased evidence of restrictive lung pathology and diffusion impairment in PFTs. Furthermore, on chest imaging, 13% of patients had bronchiectasis and 11% had subpleural cysts. Treatment with corticosteroids was associated with an increased incidence of cytomegalovirus disease (odds ratio, 2.62; = .014).
CONCLUSIONS
PCP remains an important opportunistic infection in the ART era. While it did not negatively affect CD4 reconstitution, it could pose an increased risk for incident cytomegalovirus disease with corticosteroid treatment and may cause residual pulmonary sequelae. These findings suggest that PCP and its treatment may contribute to long-term morbidity in PWH, even in the ART era.
PubMed: 37577116
DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofad408 -
Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy :... Feb 2024The development of pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) has recently become a growing concern; thus, its prevention has become increasingly important....
Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim for pneumocystis pneumonia prophylaxis, causes of discontinuation and thrombocytopenia observed during administration: A single-center retrospective study.
INTRODUCTION
The development of pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) has recently become a growing concern; thus, its prevention has become increasingly important. Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (ST) is a cost-effective first-line and prophylactic treatment for PCP. However, ST administration criteria for PCP prophylaxis remain unclear and are often discontinued because of adverse events (AEs). In this study, we aimed to investigate the causes of ST discontinuation and the associated AEs using objective data.
METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed the data of 162 patients admitted to Kansai Medical University Hospital between January 2018 and December 2020, who received ST for PCP prophylaxis. We compared clinical characteristics, laboratory data, and incidence of AEs between ST non-discontinuation and ST discontinuation groups. Additionally, we divided the patients into non-developing and developing thrombocytopenia (≥ Grade 1) groups based on the investigation results.
RESULTS
No patients developed PCP while receiving ST. The most common causes of ST discontinuation were thrombocytopenia (37%), liver dysfunction (20%), and rash (18%). Multivariate analysis revealed thrombocytopenia (≥ Grade 1) as a factor significantly associated with ST discontinuation. Furthermore, we identified three factors correlated with thrombocytopenia (≥ Grade 1): age ≥50 years, lymphocyte count <1000/μL, and platelet count <180,000/μL.
CONCLUSIONS
Patients with the aforementioned factors are at higher risk of developing thrombocytopenia (≥ Grade 1) during ST administration for PCP prophylaxis. Therefore, platelet count monitoring is essential to enhance safety and efficacy of ST treatment. Nonetheless, further research is warranted to explore additional implications and interventions.
Topics: Humans; Middle Aged; Retrospective Studies; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis; Trimethoprim, Sulfamethoxazole Drug Combination; Thrombocytopenia
PubMed: 37797822
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiac.2023.09.030 -
Annales D'endocrinologie May 2024
PubMed: 38724339
DOI: 10.1016/j.ando.2023.08.006