Publications
88 results found
Mashbat B, Bellos E, Hodeib S, et al., 2020, A rare mutation in SPLUNC1 underlies meningococcal disease affecting bacterial adherence and invasion, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Vol: 70, Pages: 2045-2053, ISSN: 1058-4838
BackgroundNeisseriameningitidis (Nm) is a nasopharyngeal commensal carried by healthy individuals. However, invasive infections occurs in a minority of individuals, with devastating consequences. There is evidence that common polymorphisms are associated with invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) but the contribution of rare variants other than complement has not been determined.MethodsWe identified familial cases of IMD in the UK meningococcal disease study and the European Union Life-threatening Infectious Disease Study. Candidate genetic variants were identified by whole exome sequencing of two patients with familial IMD. Candidate variants were further validated by in vitro assays.ResultsExomes of two siblings with IMD identified a novel heterozygous missense mutation in BPIFA1/SPLUNC1. Sequencing of 186 other non-familial cases identified another unrelated IMD patient with the same mutation. SPLUNC1 is an innate immune defence protein expressed in the nasopharyngeal epithelia, however, its role in invasive infections is unknown. In vitro assays demonstrated that recombinant SPLUNC1 inhibits biofilm formation by Nm, and impedes Nm adhesion and invasion of human airway cells. The dominant negative mutant rSPLUNC1 (p.G22E) showed reduced anti-biofilm activity, increased meningococcal adhesion and invasion of cells compared with wild type SPLUNC1.ConclusionsA mutation in SPLUNC1 affecting mucosal attachment, biofilm formation and invasion of mucosal epithelial cells is a new genetic cause of meningococcal disease.
Wang X, Nijman R, Camuzeaux S, et al., 2019, Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, Scientific Reports, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2045-2322
Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The ‘omics’ approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n=20) and confirmed viral infection (n=20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group..A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics.
Shimizu C, Kim J, Eleftherohorinou H, et al., 2019, HLA-C variants associated with amino acid substitutions in the peptide binding groove influence susceptibility to Kawasaki disease, Human Immunology, Vol: 80, Pages: 731-738, ISSN: 0198-8859
Kawasaki disease (KD) is a pediatric vasculitis caused by an unknown trigger in genetically susceptible children. The incidence varies widely across genetically diverse populations. Several associations with HLA Class I alleles have been reported in single cohort studies. Using a genetic approach, from the nine single nucleotide variants (SNVs) associated with KD susceptibility in children of European descent, we identified SNVs near the HLA-C (rs6906846) and HLA-B genes (rs2254556) whose association was replicated in a Japanese descent cohort (rs6906846 p = 0.01, rs2254556 p = 0.005). The risk allele (A at rs6906846) was also associated with HLA-C*07:02 and HLA-C*04:01 in both US multi-ethnic and Japanese cohorts and HLA-C*12:02 only in the Japanese cohort. The risk A-allele was associated with eight non-conservative amino acid substitutions (amino acid positions); Asp or Ser (9), Arg (14), Ala (49), Ala (73), Ala (90), Arg (97), Phe or Ser (99), and Phe or Ser (116) in the HLA-C peptide binding groove that binds peptides for presentation to cytotoxic T cells (CTL). This raises the possibility of increased affinity to a "KD peptide" that contributes to the vasculitis of KD in genetically susceptible children.
Willems E, Alkema W, Keizer-Garritsen J, et al., 2019, Biosynthetic homeostasis and resilience of the complement system in health and infectious disease, EBioMedicine, Vol: 45, Pages: 303-313, ISSN: 2352-3964
BACKGROUND: The complement system is a central component of the innate immune system. Constitutive biosynthesis of complement proteins is essential for homeostasis. Dysregulation as a consequence of genetic or environmental cues can lead to inflammatory syndromes or increased susceptibility to infection. However, very little is known about steady state levels in children or its kinetics during infection. METHODS: With a newly developed multiplex mass spectrometry-based method we analyzed the levels of 32 complement proteins in healthy individuals and in a group of pediatric patients infected with bacterial or viral pathogens. FINDINGS: In plasma from young infants we found reduced levels of C4BP, ficolin-3, factor B, classical pathway components C1QA, C1QB, C1QC, C1R, and terminal pathway components C5, C8, C9, as compared to healthy adults; whereas the majority of complement regulating (inhibitory) proteins reach adult levels at very young age. Both viral and bacterial infections in children generally lead to a slight overall increase in complement levels, with some exceptions. The kinetics of complement levels during invasive bacterial infections only showed minor changes, except for a significant increase and decrease of CRP and clusterin, respectively. INTERPRETATION: The combination of lower levels of activating and higher levels of regulating complement proteins, would potentially raise the threshold of activation, which might lead to suppressed complement activation in the first phase of life. There is hardly any measurable complement consumption during bacterial or viral infection. Altogether, expression of the complement proteins appears surprisingly stable, which suggests that the system is continuously replenished. FUND: European Union's Horizon 2020, project PERFORM, grant agreement No. 668303.
Borghini L, Png E, Binder A, et al., 2019, Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease, Scientific Reports, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2045-2322
Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA – a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection – under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes.
Menikou S, McArdle A, Kaforou M, et al., 2019, Characterisation of immune complexes in Kawasaki Disease and other infectious diseases by protein sequencing, 103rd Annual Meeting of the American-Association-of-Immunologists, Publisher: AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS, ISSN: 0022-1767
Nagelkerke SQ, Tacke CE, Breunis WB, et al., 2019, Extensive ethnic variation and linkage disequilibrium at the FCGR2/3 locus: Different genetic associations revealed in Kawasaki Disease, Frontiers in Immunology, Vol: 10, ISSN: 1664-3224
The human Fc-gamma receptors (FcγRs) link adaptive and innate immunity by binding immunoglobulin G (IgG). All human low-affinity FcγRs are encoded by the FCGR2/3 locus containing functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and gene copy number variants. This locus is notoriously difficult to genotype and high-throughput methods commonly used focus on only a few SNPs. We performed multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification for all relevant genetic variations at the FCGR2/3 locus in >4,000 individuals to define linkage disequilibrium (LD) and allele frequencies in different populations. Strong LD and extensive ethnic variation in allele frequencies was found across the locus. LD was strongest for the FCGR2C-ORF haplotype (rs759550223+rs76277413), which leads to expression of FcγRIIc. In Europeans, the FCGR2C-ORF haplotype showed strong LD with, among others, rs201218628 (FCGR2A-Q27W, r2 = 0.63). LD between these two variants was weaker (r2 = 0.17) in Africans, whereas the FCGR2C-ORF haplotype was nearly absent in Asians (minor allele frequency <0.005%). The FCGR2C-ORF haplotype and rs1801274 (FCGR2A-H131R) were in weak LD (r2 = 0.08) in Europeans. We evaluated the importance of ethnic variation and LD in Kawasaki Disease (KD), an acute vasculitis in children with increased incidence in Asians. An association of rs1801274 with KD was previously shown in ethnically diverse genome-wide association studies. Now, we show in 1,028 European KD patients that the FCGR2C-ORF haplotype, although nearly absent in Asians, was more strongly associated with susceptibility to KD than rs1801274 in Europeans. Our data illustrate the importance of interpreting findings of association studies concerning the FCGR2/3 locus with knowledge of LD and ethnic variation.
Feinstein Y, Walker JC, Peters MJ, et al., 2018, Cohort profile of the Biomarkers of Acute Serious Illness in Children (BASIC) study: a prospective multicentre cohort study in critically ill children, BMJ Open, Vol: 8, ISSN: 2044-6055
Purpose Despite significant progress, challenges remain in the management of critically ill children, including early identification of infection and organ failure and robust early risk stratification to predict poor outcome. The Biomarkers of Acute Serious Illness in Children study aims to identify genetic and biological pathways underlying the development of critical illness in infections and organ failure and those leading to poor outcome (death or severe disability) in children requiring emergency intensive care.Participants We recruited a prospective cohort of critically ill children undergoing emergency transport to four paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in Southeast England between April 2014 and December 2016.Findings to date During the study period, 1017 patients were recruited by the regional PICU transport team, and blood and urine samples were obtained at/around first contact with the patient by the transport team. Consent for participation in the study was deferred until after PICU admission and 674 parents/carers were consented. Further samples (blood, urine, stool and throat swabs) were collected after consent. Samples were processed and stored for genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic analyses. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data at first contact, during PICU stay and at discharge, were collected, as were detailed data regarding infectious or non-infectious aetiology. In addition, 115 families have completed 12-month validated follow-up questionnaires to assess quality of life and child behaviour.The first phase of sample analyses (transcriptomic profiling) is currently in progress.Future plans Stored samples will be analysed using genomic, proteomic and metabolic profiling. Advanced bioinformatics techniques will be used to identify biomarkers for early diagnosis of infection, identification of organ failure and risk stratification to predict poor outcome (death/severe disability).Trial registration number NCT03238040.
Wright V, Herberg J, Kaforou M, et al., 2018, Diagnosis of Kawasaki disease using a minimal whole blood gene expression signature, JAMA Pediatrics, Vol: 172, Pages: 1-10, ISSN: 2168-6203
Importance There is no diagnostic test for Kawasaki disease (KD). Diagnosis is based on clinical features shared with other febrile conditions, frequently resulting in delayed or missed treatment and an increased risk of coronary artery aneurysms. Objective To identify a whole blood gene expression signature that distinguishes children with KD in the first week of illness from other febrile conditions.Design Case-control discovery study groups comprising training, test, and validation groups of children with KD or comparator febrile illness. Setting Hospitals in the UK, Spain, Netherlands and USA.Participants The training and test discovery group comprised 404 children with infectious and inflammatory conditions (78 KD, 84 other inflammatory diseases, 242 bacterial or viral infections) and 55 healthy controls. The independent validation group included 130 febrile children and 102 KD patients, including 72 in the first 7 days of illness.Exposures Whole blood gene expression was evaluated using microarrays, and minimal transcript sets distinguishing KD were identified using a novel variable selection method (Parallel Deterministic Model Search).Main outcomes and measures The ability of transcript signatures - implemented as Disease Risk Scores - to discriminate KD cases from controls, was assessed by Area Under the Curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity at the optimal cut-point according to Youden’s index. Results A 13-transcript signature identified in the discovery training set distinguished KD from other infectious and inflammatory conditions in the discovery test set with AUC, sensitivity, and specificity (95% confidence intervals (CI)) of 96.2% (92.5-99.9), 81.7% (60.0-94.8), and 92.1% (84.0-97.0), respectively. In the validation set, the signature distinguished KD from febrile controls with AUC, sensitivity, and specificity (95% CI) of 94.6% (91.3-98.0), 85.9% (76.8-92.6), and 89.1% (83.0-93.7) respectively. The signature was applied to clinically defin
Martinón-Torres F, Salas A, Rivero-Calle I, et al., 2018, Life-threatening infections in children in Europe (the EUCLIDS Project): a prospective cohort study, Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, Vol: 2, Pages: 404-414, ISSN: 2352-4642
Background: Sepsis and severe focal infections represent a substantial disease burden in children admitted to hospital. We aimed to understand the burden of disease and outcomes in children with life-threatening bacterial infections in Europe. Methods: The European Union Childhood Life-threatening Infectious Disease Study (EUCLIDS) was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study done in six countries in Europe. Patients aged 1 month to 18 years with sepsis (or suspected sepsis) or severe focal infections, admitted to 98 participating hospitals in the UK, Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, and the Netherlands were prospectively recruited between July 1, 2012, and Dec 31, 2015. To assess disease burden and outcomes, we collected demographic and clinical data using a secured web-based platform and obtained microbiological data using locally available clinical diagnostic procedures. Findings: 2844 patients were recruited and included in the analysis. 1512 (53·2%) of 2841 patients were male and median age was 39·1 months (IQR 12·4–93·9). 1229 (43·2%) patients had sepsis and 1615 (56·8%) had severe focal infections. Patients diagnosed with sepsis had a median age of 27·6 months (IQR 9·0–80·2), whereas those diagnosed with severe focal infections had a median age of 46·5 months (15·8–100·4; p < 0·0001). Of 2844 patients in the entire cohort, the main clinical syndromes were pneumonia (511 [18·0%] patients), CNS infection (469 [16·5%] ), and skin and soft tissue infection (247 [8·7%]). The causal microorganism was identified in 1359 (47·8%) children, with the most prevalent ones being Neisseria meningitidis (in 259 [9·1%] patients), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (in 222 [7·8%]), Streptococcus pneumoniae (in 219 [7·7%] ), and group A streptococcus (in 162 [5·7%]). 1070 (37·6%) patients required admis
Mashbat B, Bellos E, Bidmos F, et al., 2018, Whole exome sequencing identifies BPIFA1 mutation underlying invasive meningococcal disease, Human Genome Meeting 2018, Publisher: BIOMED CENTRAL LTD, ISSN: 1473-9542
Bellos E, Herberg J, Wright V, et al., 2018, The genetic basis of invasive meningococcal disease revealed thorough whole exome sequencing, Human Genome Meeting 2018, Publisher: BioMed Central, ISSN: 1479-7364
BackgroundInvasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a rare condition affectingchildren and young adults due to infection with Neisseria meningitidis, resulting in meningitis or sepsis. Although the majority of thegeneral population is colonized by N. meningitidis, only a small minority go on to develop IMD, suggesting that those that succumb toinvasive disease may possess an underlying genetic susceptibility.The notion of a genetic contribution to disease manifestation is supported by the finding that patients with congenital complement deficiencies are susceptible to recurrent IMD, yet these conditions arerare. With the aim of identifying other genetic factors underlying IMD, we carried out whole exome sequencing (WES) of approximately 300 IMD patients from an extensive and well characterizedcohort of >2,000 childhood IMD patients.Materials and MethodsThe WES analysis focused on rare variants (MAF<0.01) predicted tohave a detrimental effect on protein function. We undertook analysisof seven multiplex families identifying IBD variants. The rest of theindex cases were analysed as a cohort and put through gene andpathway burden tests to identify any genes/pathways that wereenriched in the collection of patients.ResultsThese analyses revealed a number of patients harbouring mutationsin known primary immunodeficiency genes (approx. 10%) as well asa novel configuration of mutations underlying the complementgenes. Furthermore, novel mutations in the coagulation pathway andmucosal immunity genes were identified and functionally confirmed.ConclusionsThe identification of genes involved in IMD through WES has demonstrated the complex genetic architecture of meningococcal immunityrevealed some novel and unexpected genes/pathways that modulatedisease susceptibility and severity. The results from this studyprovide us with a more comprehensive understanding of IMDpathogenesis.
von Both U, Berk M, Agapow P-M, et al., 2018, Mycobacterium tuberculosis Exploits a Molecular Off Switch of the Immune System for Intracellular Survival, Scientific Reports, Vol: 8, ISSN: 2045-2322
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) survives and multiplies inside human macrophages by subversion of immune mechanisms. Although these immune evasion strategies are well characterised functionally, the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we show that during infection of human whole blood with M. tuberculosis, host gene transcriptional suppression, rather than activation, is the predominant response. Spatial, temporal and functional characterisation of repressed genes revealed their involvement in pathogen sensing and phagocytosis, degradation within the phagolysosome and antigen processing and presentation. To identify mechanisms underlying suppression of multiple immune genes we undertook epigenetic analyses. We identified significantly differentially expressed microRNAs with known targets in suppressed genes. In addition, after searching regions upstream of the start of transcription of suppressed genes for common sequence motifs, we discovered novel enriched composite sequence patterns, which corresponded to Alu repeat elements, transposable elements known to have wide ranging influences on gene expression. Our findings suggest that to survive within infected cells, mycobacteria exploit a complex immune “molecular off switch” controlled by both microRNAs and Alu regulatory elements.
Hemingway C, Berk M, Anderson ST, et al., 2017, Childhood tuberculosis is associated with decreased abundance of T cell gene transcripts and impaired T cell function., PLoS ONE, Vol: 12, ISSN: 1932-6203
The WHO estimates around a million children contract tuberculosis (TB) annually with over 80 000 deaths from dissemination of infection outside of the lungs. The insidious onset and association with skin test anergy suggests failure of the immune system to both recognise and respond to infection. To understand the immune mechanisms, we studied genome-wide whole blood RNA expression in children with TB meningitis (TBM). Findings were validated in a second cohort of children with TBM and pulmonary TB (PTB), and functional T-cell responses studied in a third cohort of children with TBM, other extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) and PTB. The predominant RNA transcriptional response in children with TBM was decreased abundance of multiple genes, with 140/204 (68%) of all differentially regulated genes showing reduced abundance compared to healthy controls. Findings were validated in a second cohort with concordance of the direction of differential expression in both TBM (r2 = 0.78 p = 2x10-16) and PTB patients (r2 = 0.71 p = 2x10-16) when compared to a second group of healthy controls. Although the direction of expression of these significant genes was similar in the PTB patients, the magnitude of differential transcript abundance was less in PTB than in TBM. The majority of genes were involved in activation of leucocytes (p = 2.67E-11) and T-cell receptor signalling (p = 6.56E-07). Less abundant gene expression in immune cells was associated with a functional defect in T-cell proliferation that recovered after full TB treatment (p<0.0003). Multiple genes involved in T-cell activation show decreased abundance in children with acute TB, who also have impaired functional T-cell responses. Our data suggest that childhood TB is associated with an acquired immune defect, potentially resulting in failure to contain the pathogen. Elucidation of the mechanism causing the immune paresis may identify new treatment and prevention strategies.
Shimizu C, Kim J, Eleftherohorinou H, et al., 2017, Genetic Variants in HLA-C and Class I Pathway Genes Influence Susceptibility to Kawasaki Disease, 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, Publisher: Wiley, ISSN: 2326-5205
Kaforou M, Herberg JA, Wright VJ, et al., 2017, Diagnosis of bacterial infection using a 2-transcript host RNA signature in febrile infants 60 days or younger, JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol: 317, Pages: 1577-1578, ISSN: 0098-7484
Herberg JA, Kaforou M, Wright VJ, 2017, Correction: Diagnostic Test Accuracy of a 2-Transcript Host RNA Signature for Discriminating Bacterial vs Viral Infection in Febrile Children (vol 316, pg 835, 2016), JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol: 317, Pages: 538-538, ISSN: 0098-7484
Chen F, Wang S, Jiang X, et al., 2016, PRINCESS: Privacy-protecting Rare disease International Network Collaboration via Encryption through Software guard extensionS, BIOINFORMATICS, Vol: 33, Pages: 871-878, ISSN: 1367-4803
Motivation: We introduce PRINCESS, a privacy-preserving international collaboration framework for analyzing rare disease genetic data that are distributed across different continents. PRINCESS leverages Software Guard Extensions (SGX) and hardware for trustworthy computation. Unlike a traditional international collaboration model, where individual-level patient DNA are physically centralized at a single site, PRINCESS performs a secure and distributed computation over encrypted data, fulfilling institutional policies and regulations for protected health information.Results: To demonstrate PRINCESS’ performance and feasibility, we conducted a family-based allelic association study for Kawasaki Disease, with data hosted in three different continents. The experimental results show that PRINCESS provides secure and accurate analyses much faster than alternative solutions, such as homomorphic encryption and garbled circuits (over 40 000× faster).
Shimizu C, Eleftherohorinou H, Wright VJ, et al., 2016, Genetic variation in the SLC8A1 calcium signaling pathway is associated with susceptibility to Kawasaki disease and coronary artery abnormalities, Circulation. Cardiovascular Genetics, Vol: 9, Pages: 559-568, ISSN: 1942-3268
BACKGROUND: -Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute pediatric vasculitis in which host genetics influence both susceptibility to KD and the formation of coronary artery aneurysms. Variants discovered by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and linkage studies only partially explain the influence of genetics on KD susceptibility. METHODS AND RESULTS: -To search for additional functional genetic variation, we performed pathway and gene stability analysis on a GWAS dataset. Pathway analysis using European GWAS data identified 100 significantly associated pathways (p< 5 ×10(-4)). Gene stability selection identified 116 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 26 genes that were responsible for driving the pathway associations and gene ontology analysis demonstrated enrichment for calcium transport (p=1.05 ×10(-4)). Three SNPs in solute carrier family 8 member 1 (SLC8A1), a sodium/calcium exchanger encoding NCX1, were validated in an independent Japanese GWAS dataset (metaanalysis p=0.0001). Patients homozygous for the A (risk) allele of rs13017968 had higher rates of coronary artery abnormalities (p=0.029). NCX1, the protein encoded by SLC8A1, was expressed in spindle-shaped and inflammatory cells in the aneurysm wall. Increased intracellular calcium mobilization was observed in B cell lines from healthy controls carrying the risk allele. CONCLUSIONS: -Pathway-based association analysis followed by gene stability selection proved to be a valuable tool for identifying risk alleles in a rare disease with complex genetics. The role of SLC8A1 polymorphisms in altering calcium flux in cells that mediate coronary artery damage in KD suggests that this pathway may be a therapeutic target and supports the study of calcineurin inhibitors in acute KD.
Martinón-Torres F, Png E, Khor CC, et al., 2016, Natural resistance to Meningococcal Disease related to CFH loci: Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies, Scientific Reports, Vol: 6, ISSN: 2045-2322
Meningococcal disease (MD) remains an important infectious cause of life threatening infection in both industrialized and resource poor countries. Genetic factors influence both occurrence and severity of presentation, but the genes responsible are largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) examining 5,440,063 SNPs in 422 Spanish MD patients and 910 controls. We then performed a meta-analysis of the Spanish GWAS with GWAS data from the United Kingdom (combined cohorts: 897 cases and 5,613 controls; 4,898,259 SNPs). The meta-analysis identified strong evidence of association (P-value ≤ 5 × 10(-8)) in 20 variants located at the CFH gene. SNP rs193053835 showed the most significant protective effect (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.62, 95% confidence interval (C.I.) = 0.52-0.73; P-value = 9.62 × 10(-9)). Five other variants had been previously reported to be associated with susceptibility to MD, including the missense SNP rs1065489 (OR = 0.64, 95% C.I.) = 0.55-0.76, P-value = 3.25 × 10(-8)). Theoretical predictions point to a functional effect of rs1065489, which may be directly responsible for protection against MD. Our study confirms the association of CFH with susceptibility to MD and strengthens the importance of this link in understanding pathogenesis of the disease.
Herberg JA, Kaforou M, Wright VJ, et al., 2016, Diagnostic Test Accuracy of a 2-Transcript Host RNA Signature for Discriminating Bacterial vs Viral Infection in Febrile Children, Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol: 316, Pages: 835-845, ISSN: 0002-9955
IMPORTANCE: Because clinical features do not reliably distinguish bacterial from viral infection, many children worldwide receive unnecessary antibiotic treatment, while bacterial infection is missed in others. OBJECTIVE: To identify a blood RNA expression signature that distinguishes bacterial from viral infection in febrile children. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Febrile children presenting to participating hospitals in the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States between 2009-2013 were prospectively recruited, comprising a discovery group and validation group. Each group was classified after microbiological investigation as having definite bacterial infection, definite viral infection, or indeterminate infection. RNA expression signatures distinguishing definite bacterial from viral infection were identified in the discovery group and diagnostic performance assessed in the validation group. Additional validation was undertaken in separate studies of children with meningococcal disease (n = 24) and inflammatory diseases (n = 48) and on published gene expression datasets. EXPOSURES: A 2-transcript RNA expression signature distinguishing bacterial infection from viral infection was evaluated against clinical and microbiological diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Definite bacterial and viral infection was confirmed by culture or molecular detection of the pathogens. Performance of the RNA signature was evaluated in the definite bacterial and viral group and in the indeterminate infection group. RESULTS: The discovery group of 240 children (median age, 19 months; 62% male) included 52 with definite bacterial infection, of whom 36 (69%) required intensive care, and 92 with definite viral infection, of whom 32 (35%) required intensive care. Ninety-six children had indeterminate infection. Analysis of RNA expression data identified a 38-transcript signature distinguishing bacterial from viral infection. A smaller
Battersby AJ, Kampmann B, Levy O, et al., 2016, Antimicrobial proteins and peptides in early life: ontogeny and translational opportunities, Frontiers in Immunology, Vol: 7, ISSN: 1664-3224
Whilst developing adaptive immune responses, young infants are especially vulnerable to serious infections including sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia. Antimicrobial proteins and peptides (APPs) are key effectors that function as broad-spectrum anti-infectives. This review seeks to summarise the clinically relevant functional qualities of APPs and the increasing clinical trial evidence for their use to combat serious infections in infancy. Levels of APPs are relatively low in early life, especially in infants born preterm or with low birth weight (LBW). There are several rationales for the potential clinical utility of APPs in the prevention and treatment of infections in infants: (a) APPs may be most helpful in those with reduced levels; (b) during sepsis microbial products signal via pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) causing potentially harmful inflammation which APPs may counteract; and (c) in the era of antibiotic resistance, development of new anti-infective strategies is essential. Evidence supports the potential clinical utility of exogenous APPs to reduce infection-related morbidity in infancy. Further studies should characterize the ontogeny of antimicrobial activity in mucosal and systemic compartments, and examine the efficacy of exogenous-APP formulations to inform translational development of APPs for infant groups.
Mcdonald J, Kaforou M, Clare S, et al., 2016, A Simple Screening Approach To Prioritize Genes for Functional Analysis Identifies a Role for Interferon Regulatory Factor 7 in the Control of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease, mSystems, Vol: 1, ISSN: 2379-5077
Greater understanding of the functions of host gene products in response to infection is required. While many of these genes enable pathogen clearance, some enhance pathogen growth or contribute to disease symptoms. Many studies have profiled transcriptomic and proteomic responses to infection, generating large data sets, but selecting targets for further study is challenging. Here we propose a novel data-mining approach combining multiple heterogeneous data sets to prioritize genes for further study by using respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection as a model pathogen with a significant health care impact. The assumption was that the more frequently a gene is detected across multiple studies, the more important its role is. A literature search was performed to find data sets of genes and proteins that change after RSV infection. The data sets were standardized, collated into a single database, and then panned to determine which genes occurred in multiple data sets, generating a candidate gene list. This candidate gene list was validated by using both a clinical cohort and in vitro screening. We identified several genes that were frequently expressed following RSV infection with no assigned function in RSV control, including IFI27, IFIT3, IFI44L, GBP1, OAS3, IFI44, and IRF7. Drilling down into the function of these genes, we demonstrate a role in disease for the gene for interferon regulatory factor 7, which was highly ranked on the list, but not for IRF1, which was not. Thus, we have developed and validated an approach for collating published data sets into a manageable list of candidates, identifying novel targets for future analysis.
Seaby EG, Wright VJ, Levin M, 2016, Genome-wide association studies in infectious diseases., Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Vol: 35, Pages: 802-804, ISSN: 1532-0987
Marino LV, Pathan N, Meyer RW, et al., 2015, An in vitro model to consider the effect of 2 mM glutamine and KNK437 on endotoxin-stimulated release of heat shock protein 70 and inflammatory mediators, Nutrition, Vol: 32, Pages: 375-383, ISSN: 0899-9007
ObjectiveGlutamine has been shown to promote the release of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) both within experimental in vitro models of sepsis and in adults with septic shock. This study aimed to investigate the effects of 2 mM glutamine and an inhibitor of HSP70 (KNK437) on the release of HSP70 and inflammatory mediators in healthy adult volunteers.MethodsAn in vitro whole blood endotoxin stimulation assay was used.ResultsThe addition of 2 mM glutamine significantly increased HSP70 levels over time (P < 0.05). HSP70 release had a positive correlation at 4 h with IL-1 β (r = 0.51, P = 0.03) and an inverse correlation with TNF-α (r = −0.56, P = 0.02) and IL-8 levels (r = −0.52, P = 0.03), and there were no significant correlations between HSP70 and IL6 or IL-10 or glutamine. Glutamine supplementation significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated the release of IL-10 at 4 h and IL-8 at 24 h, compared with conditions without glutamine. In endotoxin-stimulated blood there were no significant differences in the release of IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1 β with glutamine supplementation at 4 and 24 h. However, glutamine supplementation (2 mM) appeared to attenuate the release of inflammatory mediators (IL-1 β, IL-6, TNF-α), although this effect was not statistically significant. The addition of KNK437, a HSP70 inhibitor, significantly diminished HSP70 release, which resulted in lower levels of inflammatory mediators (P < 0.05).ConclusionGlutamine supplementation promotes HSP70 release in an experimental model of sepsis. After the addition of KNK437, the effects of glutamine on HSP70 and inflammatory mediator release appear to be lost, suggesting that HSP70 in part orchestrates the inflammatory mediator response to sepsis. The clinical implications require further investigation.
Marino LV, Pathan N, Meyer R, et al., 2014, The effect of 2 mMol glutamine supplementation on HSP70 and TNF-α release by LPS stimulated blood from healthy children, Clinical Nutrition, Vol: 34, Pages: 1195-1201, ISSN: 1532-1983
ObjectiveGlutamine has been shown to promote heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) release both within experimental in vitro models of sepsis (2–10 mM) and in adults post trauma (0.5 g/kg), although the efficacy varies and is dependent on the model used. The effect of glutamine supplementation on HSP70 release in children is less clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 2 mM glutamine added to incubation media on HSP70 and inflammatory mediator release in an in vitro model of paediatric sepsis using whole blood from healthy paediatric volunteers.MethodsAn in vitro whole blood endotoxin stimulation model using 1 μg/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS) over a 24 h time period was used to investigate the effects of 2 mM glutamine on HSP70 and inflammatory mediator release in healthy children.ResultsThe addition of 2 mM glutamine to the incubation media significantly increased HSP70 release over time (p < 0.05). This was associated with an early pro-inflammatory effect on TNF-α release at 4 h (p < 0.005) which was not seen at 24 h. There was a non significant trend towards higher levels of IL-6 and IL-10 following the addition of 2 mM glutamine, which appears to differ from the response reported in adult and animal models.ConclusionGlutamine supplementation of incubation media promotes HSP70 and early TNF- α release in an in vitro model using blood samples from healthy children.
Hoang LT, Shimizu C, Ling L, et al., 2014, Global gene expression profiling identifies new therapeutic targets in acute Kawasaki disease, GENOME MEDICINE, Vol: 6, ISSN: 1756-994X
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Kaforou M, Wright VJ, Levin M, 2014, Host RNA signatures for diagnostics: An example from paediatric tuberculosis in Africa, JOURNAL OF INFECTION, Vol: 69, Pages: S28-S31, ISSN: 0163-4453
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Marino LV, Pathan N, Meyer R, et al., 2014, Glutamine depletion and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in children with meningococcal disease, CLINICAL NUTRITION, Vol: 33, Pages: 915-921, ISSN: 0261-5614
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- Citations: 5
Anderson ST, Kaforou M, Brent AJ, et al., 2014, Diagnosis of Childhood Tuberculosis and Host RNA Expression in Africa, New England Journal of Medicine, Vol: 370, Pages: 1712-1723, ISSN: 1533-4406
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