Publications by authors named "Amisha Rana"

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most alarming global public health challenges of the 21st century. Over 3 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the United States annually, with nearly 50,000 cases being fatal. Innovations in drug discovery methods and platforms are crucial to identify novel antibiotics to combat AMR.

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important cause of lower respiratory tract infections, such as ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP). Using inhaled antibiotics to treat VABP can achieve high drug concentrations at the infection site while minimizing systemic toxicities. Despite the theoretical advantages, clinical trials have failed to show a benefit for inhaled antibiotic therapy in treating VABP.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists studied how fungi in our gut might help certain bad bacteria grow when we get sick, specifically looking at Salmonella, which can cause stomach problems.
  • They discovered that both fungi living in our gut and those from the food we eat can create special tiny helpers called siderophores that grab iron from our bodies.
  • By using these siderophores, Salmonella bacteria were able to grow better in experiments, showing that fungi can actually support the growth of these harmful bacteria during infections.
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  • The combination of carbapenem resistance and hypervirulence in certain bacteria poses a serious threat, making infections harder to treat in otherwise healthy individuals.
  • This study evaluated the effectiveness of ceftazidime/avibactam-based antibiotics against two specific carbapenem-resistant bacterial isolates known for containing hypervirulence plasmids.
  • Results revealed that while the antibiotics could kill the bacteria, these isolates showed resilience through changes in their cellular processes, highlighting the challenges in treating such infections due to antibiotic tolerance mechanisms.
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Background: Aminoglycoside-containing regimens may be an effective treatment option for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-Kp), but aminoglycoside-resistance genes are common in these strains. The relationship between the aminoglycoside-resistance genes and aminoglycoside MICs remains poorly defined.

Objectives: To identify genotypic signatures capable of predicting aminoglycoside MICs for CR-Kp.

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Antibiotic combinations, including ceftazidime/avibactam (CAZ/AVI), are frequently employed to combat KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp), though such combinations have not been rationally optimized. Clinical KPC-Kp isolates with common genes encoding aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes (AMEs), or , were used in static time-kill assays ( = 4 isolates) and the hollow-fiber infection model (HFIM;  = 2 isolates) to evaluate the activity of gentamicin, amikacin, and CAZ/AVI alone and in combinations. A short course, one-time aminoglycoside dose was also evaluated.

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Ceftazidime/avibactam is an important treatment option for infections caused by carbapenemase-producing (KPC-Kp), however, resistance can emerge during treatment. The objective of the study was to define the ceftazidime/avibactam concentrations required to suppress bacterial regrowth in ceftazidime/avibactam susceptible isolates and identify active therapies against ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp. Time-kill assays were performed against twelve ST258 KPC-Kp isolates that harbored or .

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Objectives: KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) isolates commonly co-harbour the aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme (AME) gene aac(6')-Ib, which encodes an AME that can confer resistance to some of the commercially available aminoglycosides. We sought to determine the influence of AAC(6')-Ib in KPC-Kp on the pharmacodynamic activity of aminoglycosides.

Methods: Six KPC-Kp clinical isolates, three with and three without aac(6')-Ib, were analysed.

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The objective of this study was to utilize a co-culture hollow-fiber infection model (HFIM) to characterize the interplay between a small, difficult-to-detect, New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (NDM-Kp) minor population and a larger K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae population in the presence of KPC-directed antibacterial therapy.

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