Aerosolized liposomal amphotericin B: prediction of lung deposition, in vitro uptake and cytotoxicity.

To predict the efficacy and toxicity of pulmonary administration of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AMB) for the treatment or the prevention of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis, a multistage liquid impinger was used to estimate the concentrations of drug that could be attained in different lung compartments after nebulization. The highest concentration of amphotericin B was found in the alveolar compartment, where it was calculated that the concentration in the lung surfactant could reach 54 μM or more when 21.6 μmoles of drug as liposomes was nebulized.

Cytochrome b gene quantitative PCR for diagnosing Plasmodium falciparum infection in travelers.

A cytochrome b (cytb) gene quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay was developed to diagnose malaria in travelers. First, manual and automated DNA extractions were compared and automated DNA extraction of 400 μl of blood was found to be more efficient. Sensitivity was estimated using the WHO international standard for Plasmodium falciparum DNA and compared to that of a previously published qPCR targeting the 18S rRNA coding gene (18S qPCR).

Low prevalence of resistance to azoles in Aspergillus fumigatus in a French cohort of patients treated for haematological malignancies.

Objectives: An increase in invasive aspergillosis (IA) due to azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus isolates has been reported for 10 years. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of azole resistance in isolates prospectively collected in patients with haematological diseases.

Methods: One hundred and eighteen isolates were collected from 89 consecutive patients over 4 years.

Primary in vitro culture of porcine tracheal epithelial cells in an air-liquid interface as a model to study airway epithelium and Aspergillus fumigatus interactions.

Since the airway epithelium is the first tissue encountered by airborne fungal spores, specific models are needed to study this interaction. We developed such a model using primary porcine tracheal epithelial cells (PTEC) as a possible alternative to the use of primary human cells. PTEC were obtained from pigs and were cultivated in an air-liquid interface.

Genotyping of Candida albicans using length fragment and high-resolution melting analyses together with minisequencing of a polymorphic microsatellite locus.

Microsatellite length polymorphism (MLP) typing is a PCR-based method used for genotyping of the diploid yeast Candida albicans. However, MLP is subject to homoplasia which can hamper the accuracy of the results. We combined fragment length analysis, high-resolution DNA melting (HRM) analysis, and SNaPshot minisequencing after a single amplification of the CDC3 locus to study 95 epidemiologically independent C.