Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0022568 (keratitis)
 5,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

LasA protease is a staphylolytic endopeptidase secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We have examined the effectiveness of LasA protease in the treatment of staphylococcal keratitis caused by methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates in a rabbit model. Keratitis was induced by intrastromal injection of the bacteria. The eyes were treated topically, and the efficacy of LasA protease was compared to those of lysostaphin (a staphylolytic protease secreted by Staphylococcus simulans) and vancomycin. When treatment was initiated early (4 h) after infection, practically all of the MSSA- and MRSA-infected corneas were sterilized by LasA protease, and its efficacy in eradicating the bacteria was comparable to those of lysostaphin and vancomycin. By contrast, most of the control corneas were heavily infected, with median values of 4.5 x 10(6) (MSSA) and 5 x 10(5) (MRSA) CFU/cornea (P < 0.001). When treatment was initiated late (10 h) after infection, LasA protease reduced the numbers of CFU in both MSSA- and MRSA-infected corneas by 3 to 4 orders of magnitude compared to the numbers of CFU for the controls (median values, 1,380 and 30 CFU/cornea, respectively, for the treated animals compared to 1.2 x 10(6) and 5 x 10(5) CFU/cornea for the respective controls [P = 0.001]), and it was more effective than vancomycin in eradicating MRSA cells (P = 0.02). In both the early- and the late-treatment protocols, the clinical scores for eyes treated with LasA protease were significantly lower than those for the eyes of the corresponding controls and comparable to those for the lysostaphin- and vancomycin-treated eyes. We conclude that LasA protease is effective in the treatment of experimental S. aureus keratitis in rabbits and may have potential for the treatment of disease in humans.
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PMID:Pseudomonas aeruginosa LasA protease in treatment of experimental staphylococcal keratitis. 1510 21

Tufting enteropathy (TE), previously known as intestinal epithelial dysplasia, is a rare congenital enteropathy characterized by refractory diarrhea in the neonatal period. It presents clinical and histological heterogeneity and may be associated with birth defects and punctuate keratitis. The causative gene(s) have not yet been identfied making prenatal diagnosis unavailable. Although there are milder phenotypes most require parenteral nutrition for prolonged periods with the risk of complications. TE becomes an indication for intestinal transplantation. We report the case of a 4-month-old male, born full term with a normal weight. The parents consulted because of severe malnutrition and chronic watery diarrhea. Duodenal and rectal biopsy was negative. Because of poor tolerance gastroclysis was changed to parenteral nutrition. The infant had several catheter-related infections and died at 13 months from catheter-associated complications. Histopathological autopsy was performed. The material was fixed in paraffin and studied with routine techniques. PAS and immunohistochemistry for CD10 were performed. We observed villous atrophy with intestinal epithelial dysplasia and disorganization on the surface of epithelial cells resembling tufts in jejunal and ileal tissue. The objective of this study was to present a rare case of neonatal enteropathy, especially TE, describe the methodology used to study the biopsy, and discuss the differential diagnoses. TE is a rare neonatal enteropathy that is difficult to diagnose and manage. Children in whom TE is suspected should be referred to specialized pediatric centers, with the option of intestinal transplantation.
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PMID:[Tufting enteropathy: a case report, histopathological methodology, and differential diagnoses]. 2607 17