Comparative LC-MS/MS and HPLC-UV Analyses of Meropenem and Piperacillin in Critically Ill Patients.

Background: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of beta-lactam antibiotics has become a valuable tool to guide dosing in critically ill patients. The main goal of the study was to compare two routinely used techniques for beta-lactam TDM in intensive care unit (ICU) patient samples, namely isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (ID-LC-MS/MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography combined with ultra-violet detection (HPLC-UV).

Methods: A set of 80 sera/plasma samples from ICU patients receiving therapeutic meropenem or piperacillin dosage was investigated.

Sequence-based prediction of type III secreted proteins.

The type III secretion system (TTSS) is a key mechanism for host cell interaction used by a variety of bacterial pathogens and symbionts of plants and animals including humans. The TTSS represents a molecular syringe with which the bacteria deliver effector proteins directly into the host cell cytosol. Despite the importance of the TTSS for bacterial pathogenesis, recognition and targeting of type III secreted proteins has up until now been poorly understood.