Gut bacteria can predict the risk of blood infection

Recently, a study published online in the Genome Medicine shows that the gut bacteria may predict the risk of the life-threatening blood infection after high-dose chemotherapy. The study was led by researchers at University of Minnesota and the Hospital of University of Nantes.

Each year, about 20,000 cancer patients receive high-dose chemotherapy to prepare for bone marrow or stem cell transplantation. Usually, about 20% -40% of patients would be infected with bloodstream after chemotherapy. Sadly, about 15% -30% of patients die from due infection. Currently, it is generally considered that because chemotherapy induces gastrointestinal inflammation of the lining, the bacteria enter the bloodstream through the small intestine. Once infected, the patient's own immune system shows failure and are often unable to resist pathogens; and antibiotics are usually ineffective.

There is no effective way to predict which patients would suffer bloodstream infections. The differences of antibiotic regimens vary widely. In some clinics, all patients use antibiotics in the process of chemotherapy for prophylactic. In other clinics, a small number of patients use antibiotics for prophylactic, because antibiotics can lead to the increase of antibiotic resistance in patients.

In this study, researchers have begun to understand how intestinal bacteria startup affects the risk of blood infection before starting treatment. They collected blood infection stool samples of 28 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma before the start of chemotherapy. Researchers bacterial DNA sequencing of each patient to measure bacterial ecosystem health. 11 of 28 subjects in bloodstream infections after chemotherapy, the researchers found that the composition of their intestinal bacteria in patients with uninfected significantly different. The use of computational tools, researchers have invented an algorithm, by a group of patients studied, the bacteria can know the pros and cons, and then predict whether a patient infection occurs, the accuracy rate of about 85%. "This method is better than we expected results, because we found a consistent difference between infection and infection did not occur in patients with intestinal bacteria," co-author of the study and assistant professor at the University of Minnesota DanKnights said.

Knights said, "This study is an early demo, we can use gut 'holes' to predict infection, and it may develop a new predictive model of other diseases."

Although the model used in this study is robust, the researchers suggest that their study is still based on a limited number of patients with a single clinic and a single type of chemotherapy. They said the next step is to verify their methods in a plurality of therapeutic centers, different types of cancer and treatment.

The researchers said, "We still need to determine whether these types of bacterial infections play some causal role in, or they are just as another condition induced biomarkers."

Read more: http://www.cusabio.com/ELISA-Kit/Goat-vitamin-B12-VB12-ELISA-kit-1042287.html