RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Objective monitoring of improvement during treatment of pulmonary exacerbation can be difficulty in children when pulmonary function testing cannot be obtained. Thus, the identification of predictive biomarkers to determine the efficacy of drug treatments is of high priority. The major aim of the current study was to investigate the serum levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and alpha calcitonin gene related peptide (aCGRP) of cystic fibrosis pediatric patients during pulmonary exacerbation and post-antibiotic therapy, and possible associations of their levels with different clinicopathological parameters. METHODS: 21 patients with cystic fibrosis were recruited at onset of pulmonary exacerbation. Serum was collected at time of admission, three days post-antibiotic therapy, and two weeks post-antibiotic therapy (end of antibiotic therapy). Serum VIP and aCGRP levels were measured using ELISA. RESULTS: Overall least square means of serum aCGRP level but not VIP changed from time of exacerbation to completion of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.005). Serum VIP was significantly associated with the presence of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.026) and other comorbidities (p = 0.013), and with type of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.019). Serum aCGRP level was significantly associated with type of antibiotic therapy (p = 0.012) and positive Staphylococcus aureus microbiology test (p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: This study could only show significant changes in serum aCGRP levels following treatment of pulmonary exacerbations. Future studies with larger sample size are required to investigate the clinical importance of VIP and aCGRP in cystic fibrosis patients.
Asunto(s)
Fibrosis Quística , Humanos , Niño , Fibrosis Quística/microbiología , Péptido Intestinal Vasoactivo , Péptido Relacionado con Gen de Calcitonina , Proyectos Piloto , Progresión de la Enfermedad , Antibacterianos/uso terapéuticoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Sepsis in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) remains one of the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality, especially for preterm newborns. Multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) are emerging as important pathogens that cause neonatal sepsis in NICU. Therefore, studying the epidemiology, clinical features, and outcome caused by MDROs vs. non-MDROs, and identifying risk factors that may predispose patients to sepsis by MDROs are important. METHODS: Episodes of blood culture-proven sepsis (age: 0-90 days) in the NICU at our institution from January 2012 to December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Collected data included demographics, signs at time of sepsis, laboratory values, microbiologic results, and final outcome. We compared clinical and laboratory data and final outcome for patients with sepsis due to MDROs vs. non-MDROs. Multivariate analysis was performed on variables with a P value of <0.05 from univariate analysis. RESULTS: Sixty-eight episodes of sepsis (ages 0-54 days, median 7 days; 34 female; 81% premature) were caused by Gram-negative bacteria (n = 42; 62%), Gram-positive bacteria (n = 21; 31%), or Candida (n = 5; 7%). The most common organisms that were isolated were Acinetobacter baumannii (27%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (22%), coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CoNS) (18%), group B streptococcus (10%), and Escherichia coli (6%). Compared with non-MDROs (n = 16; 31%, excluding CoNS and Candida), MDROs (n = 35; 69%) were associated with higher mortality (P = 0.002) and more delay in providing targeted antimicrobial therapy (P = 0.002) (based on antimicrobial susceptibility tests). Sepsis due to the most resistant organisms (A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae Carbapenemase [KPC]-producing bacteria, n = 20; 39%) was associated with higher mortality (P = 0.001) and significantly associated with exposure to carbapenem and vancomycin before onset of sepsis (cases exposed = 13/20; 65%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: MDROs are the most common cause of sepsis at our NICU and are associated with higher mortality compared with non-MDROs. Previous exposure to carbapenem and vancomycin was associated with sepsis caused by the most resistant organisms.