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Purification and Visualization of Lipopolysaccharide from Gram-negative Bacteria by Hot Aqueous-phenol Extraction
Published on: May 28, 2012
Significance of lipopolysaccharide detection in children with pulmonary infections
1Department of Pediatrics, Huai'an Maternal and Child Health Hospital Affiliated to Yangzhou University, Huai'an, Jiangsu, P.R. China. dzew09@163.com.
Insights
Gram-negative bacteria and endotoxemia are common in children with pulmonary infections. Elevated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels indicate bacterial infection, particularly in early stages of pneumonia.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Clinical Microbiology
- Pulmonology
Background:
- Pulmonary infections are a significant cause of morbidity in children.
- Identifying the causative pathogens, especially Gram-negative bacteria, is crucial for effective treatment.
- Assessing biomarkers like lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can aid in diagnosing bacterial infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels and other laboratory markers in children with pulmonary infections.
- To investigate the prevalence of Gram-negative bacterial infections in pediatric pulmonary infections.
Main Methods:
- Children with pulmonary infections underwent blood tests, including C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody IgM (MP-IgM), LPS levels, and blood cultures.
- Chest X-rays were performed, and clinical data were collected for statistical analysis.
- Comparison was made with a control group of healthy children.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in white blood cell count or CRP between infected children and controls.
- Lower positive rates of MP-IgM in infected children compared to controls (33.33% vs. 62.96%).
- Significantly higher blood LPS positive rates in infected children, especially within the first week of illness (p < 0.05).
- Blood bacterial culture positive rates were higher in infected children, particularly those with infections over one week (29.03% vs. control).
- Weak correlation found between elevated blood LPS and positive blood bacterial cultures (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
- Endotoxemia, indicated by elevated LPS, is frequently associated with pediatric pulmonary infections.
- Gram-negative bacteria are common pathogens in children with various stages of pneumonia.
- LPS may serve as a valuable biomarker for detecting Gram-negative bacterial infections in pediatric pulmonary infections.
Objective:
The present study aimed to observe the alterations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and some other laboratory indexes in children suffering from pulmonary infections, and to investigate the condition of Gram-negative bacterial infection.
Patients And Methods:
All the patients received routine blood test, C reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody IgM (MP-IgM), LPS, blood culture and chest X-ray examination. The clinical data was collected followed by induction arrangement and statistical analysis.
Results:
In terms of the rate of abnormity in peripheral white blood cell count and positive rate of blood CRP, no significant difference was found between children with pulmonary infections and the healthy individual in the control group (p > 0.05). The positive rates of blood MP-IgM were 33.33% and 32.26% in children with different progressive stages of pulmonary infections, which were significantly lower than those in the control group (62.96%) (p < 0.05). The positive rates of blood LPS in the observation group were higher than those in the control group, especially for those children at progressive stages within one week; and the difference between them was significant (p < 0.05). With regard to blood bacterial culture, the positive rates were 9.52% and 29.03% for children in progressive stages within one week and over one week in the observation group, respectively; the latter was significantly higher than that in the control group (p < 0.05). The result of the correlation analysis suggested a weak correlation between the positive rate of increased blood LPS in the observation group and that in blood bacterial culture (χ2 = 6.61, p < 0.05; Pearson's contingency coefficient C = 0.34). However, there was no significant correlation between the positive rate of increased blood LPS and peripheral blood white cell count, CRP, or MP-IgM (p > 0.05).
Conclusions:
Endotoxemia is often accompanied by pulmonary infections, and gram-negative bacterium is a common pathogenic bacterium in children with different progressive stages of pneumonia.
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