Mucorales
invades the cells of people with weakened immune systems and causes the deadly
infection, mucormycosis. The study, conducted by LA BioMed and the University
of Maryland School of Medicine researchers, identified
several pathways that are required for mucormycosis to develop in a patient.
The
researchers reported on the sequencing of 30 isolates of Mucorales and the study
of the transcriptomes of three most common causes of mucormycosis, in response
to lung epithelial cells. They identified several pathways that are required
for mucormycosis pathogenesis.
Those
most at risk of mucormycosis are patients with uncontrolled diabetes
ketoacidosis, other forms of metabolic acidosis, treatment with
corticosteroids, solid organ or bone marrow transplantation, neutropenia,
trauma and burns, such as those suffered by wounded soldiers in Iraq and
Afghanistan, malignant hematological disorders and deferoxamine therapy in
patients receiving hemodialysis.
For
further details see:
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle