Top 24 Articles About infectious chronic and degenerative disease
The importance of assessing risk and using non-culture-based diagnostics for invasive fungal disease is clear. Several methods have been evaluated and validated for clinical use including galactomannan, beta-d-glucan, lateral flow technology, T2 magnetic resonance, PCR and others. Non-culture-based biomarkers provide more reliable negative than positive predictive values. When the prevalence of disease is higher than 15%, negative test results exclude the diagnosis, while positive test results include the diagnosis. Clinicians and laboratories need to consider when a test is being requested for screening (when a patient is at risk for invasive fungal disease) as opposed to diagnosis (in which there is a high clinical suspicion of an invasive fungal disease), which will have a substantially higher pre-test probability. Finally, combinations of these tests may provide the greatest benefit in establishing a diagnosis of invasive fungal disease.
Several experimental evidences have demonstrated a crucial role for β-glucan in the host–pathogen interaction during infections. Moreover, considerable efforts have been made to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of action of β-glucan in fungal pathogenesis as well as how it promotes a phagocytic-mediated immune response. Similarly, administration of fungal β-glucan is well known to stimulate the immune system and boost resistance to various infectious diseases and cancers, highlighting the multifaceted role of this molecule (Figure (Figure1).1). However, although many in vivo studies have shown a beneficial effect of the β-glucans isolated from different sources, a comprehensive investigation of the mechanism of action is still lacking. In addition, the absence of detailed methodology on experimentation, β-glucan molecules source and purity reached render interpretation of the various results very complex. As such, discrepancies observed in the different studies are mainly related to the choice of purified components being used. In addition, unfortunately only few human studies are available and most of them have not been followed up with success. Hence, the possibility for clinical application of β-glucan should be considered with caution and will require further investigation. Future studies need to deeply characterize how β-glucans with different structure and molecular weight interact with each receptor and which specific signaling pathways are triggered. Moreover, providing details on the procedure and composition of the carbohydrate molecule under investigation remains crucial. An understanding should be made in the near future to use a common standardized β-glucan molecule with described biochemical properties. With such a common control, we might endeavor a rational use of this promising molecule in the future as an adjuvant or therapeutic agent.
The strong immunostimulating potential of β-glucans has been well established in numerous diseases. However, the effects on viral infection were less studied.
From VV (via email w/ AJ) One of the rare studies of glucan effects on viral infection.
Rationale: Prompt diagnosis of invasive fungal infections is important because of the associated morbidity and mortality; however, diagnosis is challenging because of the nonspecific symptoms and radiographic findings.Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) galactomannan (GM) and serum or BAL polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in patients with suspected invasive aspergillosis (IA), β-d-glucan in critically ill patients at risk for candidiasis or candidemia, and serology testing and antigen detection in patients with endemic mycoses (histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, and coccidioidomycosis).
Evidence-based guidelines for the use of microbiological laboratory testing for the diagnosis of fungal infections in pulmonary and critical care were recently published by a multidisciplinary committee of experts on behalf of the American Thoracic Society (1). A systematic review of the literature pertaining to the use of microbiological, serological, and molecular tests for the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), invasive candidiasis (IC), and the common endemic mycoses was performed.
In this study we aimed
to evaluate the possible effects of a combination of glucan and vitamin C on immunosuppression caused
by influenza infection.
Personal exposure to fungi, bacteria, endotoxin, and (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan was determined at different woodworking sites--logging sites, sawmills, woodchipping sites, and joineries.
The effects of β-glucan appeared to be mainly related to the activation of reactive oxygen species and modulation of cytokine release.
We conclude from these results that (i) neither glucan preparation alone effectively enhances survival following CL/P when using the doses and administration schedule employed herein, (ii) both glucan-P and glucan-F do act synergistically with antibiotics to enhance survival in this rat model of polymicrobial sepsis, and (iii) in this particular model, nontoxic glucan-F is as efficacious as glucan-P.
Host immunosuppression after trauma contributes to septic morbidity. The macrophage is a key element in the host immune response. This study evaluated glucan, a macrophage stimulant, in a prospective, randomized, double-blind study of 38 trauma patients undergoing surgery.
Due to significant increases in anastomotic bursting pressures and tissue hydroxyproline levels and considering the inhibitory effect of β-Glucan on epithelial damage, edema, and submucosal-muscular layer damage, β-Glucan was thought to contribute to the healing of the anastomosis.
FR-S displays an interesting mechanism of antiviral action and represents a promising candidate for the treatment and/or prevention of herpetic infections, to be used as a single therapeutic agent or in combination with acyclovir.
Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is the major zoonotic and intracellular pathogen. Different strategies have been developed to prevent the S. Enteritidis infection. The beta-1,3-1,6-glucan of Schizophyllum commune was used as an immunological booster to determine the minimal dietary level of beta-glucan that would restrict S. Enteritidis infection through the effects of beta-glucan on the activity of macrophages and direct physical protection of the intestine.
Weaning in young animals is associated with an increased incidence of gastrointestinal infections. β-glucans exert numerous physiological effects, including altering immune function. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)-derived β-glucans on immune and intestinal function in weanling pigs (Sus scrofa).
The purpose of this research is to study the effect of sulfated lentinan (sLNT) on immune effect of Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine.
When treated with fungal polysaccharide schizophyllan, mice survived otherwise lethal Sendai virus infection.
Sulfated schizophyllans of differing sulfur content were prepared and their mitogenic activities and effects on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were investigated in vitro.
The judicious use of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis reduces the infectious complications of surgery. However, increased bacterial resistance within hospitals may make antibiotic prophylaxis less effective in the future and alternative strategies are needed. New immunomodulatory agents might prevent wound infections by stimulation of the host immune system.
As the SARS-CoV-2 virus wreaks havoc on the populations, health care infrastructures and economies of nations around the world, finding ways to protect health care workers and bolster immune responses in the general population while we await an effective vaccine will be the difference between life and death for many people.
Coronavirus pneumonia is accompanied by rapid virus replication, where a large number of inflammatory cell infiltration and cytokine storm may lead to acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. The uncontrolled release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6, is associated with ARDS. This constituted the first study to report on the variability in physicochemical properties of β-glucans extracts from the same edible mushroom Lentinus edodes on the reduction of these pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress.