Safety and Feasibility of Photodynamic Therapy for Percutaneous Image-guided Abdominopelvic Abscess Drainage: Phase 1 Trial.

Background Standard-of-care abscess management includes image-guided percutaneous drainage and antibiotics; however, cure rates vary, and concern for antibiotic-resistant bacteria is growing. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses light-activated dyes to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, could complement the standard of care by sterilizing the abscess at the time of drainage. Purpose To evaluate safety and feasibility of PDT with methylene blue (hereafter, MB-PDT) at the time of percutaneous abscess drainage.

Photodynamic therapy is a safe and feasible adjunct to percutaneous drainage of deep tissue abscesses: Results of a first in humans Phase 1 clinical trial.

Background: Standard of care for abscess management includes image-guided percutaneous drainage and antibiotics. However, cure rates vary between patients and there is growing concern for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), which utilizes light-activated dyes to generate cytotoxic reactive species, could complement the standard of care by sterilizing the abscess at time of drainage.

Effects of patient-specific treatment planning on eligibility for photodynamic therapy of deep tissue abscess cavities: retrospective Monte Carlo simulation study.

Significance: Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (PDT) effectively kills bacterial strains found in deep tissue abscess cavities. PDT response hinges on multiple factors, including light dose, which depends on patient optical properties.

Aim: Computed tomography images for 60 abscess drainage subjects were segmented and used for Monte Carlo (MC) simulation.

The differential effect of dexamethasone on granulocyte apoptosis involves stabilization of Mcl-1L in neutrophils but not in eosinophils.

In the absence of activation signals, circulating human neutrophils and eosinophils undergo spontaneous apoptosis. The glucocorticoid dexamethasone (Dex) accelerates apoptosis in inflammatory cells such as eosinophils, but uniquely delays neutrophil apoptosis. Corresponding to the opposite effects of Dex on granulocyte apoptosis, we demonstrate that in neutrophils and eosinophils Dex oppositely affects expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family protein Mcl-1L.

Lysophospholipid and fatty acid inhibition of pulmonary surfactant: non-enzymatic models of phospholipase A2 surfactant hydrolysis.

Secretory A(2) phospholipases (sPLA(2)) hydrolyze surfactant phospholipids cause surfactant dysfunction and are elevated in lung inflammation. Phospholipase-mediated surfactant hydrolysis may disrupt surfactant function by generation of lysophospholipids and free fatty acids and/or depletion of native phospholipids. In this study, we quantitatively assessed multiple mechanisms of sPLA(2)-mediated surfactant dysfunction using non-enzymatic models including supplementation of surfactants with exogenous lysophospholipids and free fatty acids.

Lysophospholipid generation and phosphatidylglycerol depletion in phospholipase A(2)-mediated surfactant dysfunction.

Pulmonary surfactant's complex mixture of phospholipids and proteins reduces the work of breathing by lowering alveolar surface tension during respiration. One mechanism of surfactant damage appears to be the hydrolysis of phospholipid by phospholipases activated in the inflamed lung. Humans have several candidate secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)) enzymes in lung cells and infiltrating leukocytes that could damage extracellular surfactant.

Surfactant phospholipid changes after antigen challenge: a role for phosphatidylglycerol in dysfunction.

In asthma, inflammation-mediated surfactant dysfunction contributes to increased airway resistance, but the mechanisms for dysfunction are not understood. To test mechanisms that alter surfactant function, atopic asthmatics underwent endobronchial antigen challenge and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). BAL fluids were sequentially separated into cells, surfactant, and supernatant, and multiple end points were analyzed.