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Zhang BC, Yang ZB, Liao RL, Ma ZQ, Zhang QJ, He QK, Duan XY, Liu MW. A case of scrub typhus with meningitis as the onset: Case report and literature review. Medicine (Baltimore) 2024; 103:e38613. [PMID: 38905360 PMCID: PMC11191975 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000038613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024] Open
Abstract
RATIONALE Scrub typhus is a naturally occurring acute febrile disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. Although it can cause multiple organ dysfunction, central nervous system infections are uncommon. PATIENT CONCERNS A 17-year-old male presented with a 5-day history of fever and headaches. The MRI of the head revealed thickness and enhancement of the left temporal lobe and tentorium cerebelli, indicating potential inflammation. DIAGNOSES The patient was diagnosed with a central nervous system infection. INTERVENTIONS Ceftriaxone and acyclovir were administered intravenously to treat the infection, reduce fever, restore acid-base balance, and manage electrolyte disorders. OUTCOMES Despite receiving ceftriaxone and acyclovir as infection therapy, there was no improvement. Additional multipathogen metagenomic testing indicated the presence of O tsutsugamushi infection, and an eschar was identified in the left axilla. The diagnosis was changed to scrub typhus with meningitis and the therapy was modified to intravenous doxycycline. Following a 2-day therapy, the body temperature normalized, and the fever subsided. CONCLUSIONS The patient was diagnosed with scrub typhus accompanied by meningitis, and doxycycline treatment was effective. LESSION Rarely reported cases of scrub typhus with meningitis and the lack of identifiable symptoms increase the chance of misdiagnosis or oversight. Patients with central nervous system infections presenting with fever and headache unresponsive to conventional antibacterial and antiviral treatment should be considered for scrub typhus with meningitis. Prompt multipathogen metagenomic testing is recommended to confirm the diagnosis and modify the treatment accordingly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing-Can Zhang
- Department of Orthopedics, People’s Hospital of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Dali, Yunnan, China
| | - Zi-Bin Yang
- Department of Orthopedics, People’s Hospital of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Dali, Yunnan, China
| | - Ren-Li Liao
- Department of Orthopedics, People’s Hospital of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Dali, Yunnan, China
| | - Zhi-Qiang Ma
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, People’s Hospital of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Dali, Yunnan, China
| | - Qiu-Juan Zhang
- Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Qian-Kun He
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, China
| | - Xin-Ya Duan
- Department of Tuberculosis Diseases, Third People’s Hospital of Kunming City, Kunming, China
| | - Ming-Wei Liu
- Department of Emergency, The People's Hospital of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Dali, Yunnan, China
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Srivastava P, Shukla A, Singh R, Kant R, Mishra N, Behera SP, Dwivedi GR, Yadav DK. Orientia tsutsugamushi: An Unusual Intracellular Bacteria-Adaptation Strategies, Available Antibiotics, and Alternatives for Treatment. Curr Microbiol 2024; 81:236. [PMID: 38907107 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-024-03754-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
During evolution Orientia tsutsugamushi became a smarter obligate bacterium to establish as intracellular pathogens. O. tsutsugamushi is a human pathogenic bacterium responsible for 1 billion infections of scrub typhus. Several novel mechanisms make this bacterium unique (cell wall, genetic constitutions, secretion system, etc.). In 2007, O. tsutsugamushi Boryong was pioneer strain for whole-genome sequencing. But the fundamental biology of this bacterial cell is a mystery till date. The unusual biology makes this organism as model for host cell interaction. Only a few antibiotics are effective against this intracellular pathogen but emergence of less susceptibility toward antibiotics make the situation alarming. The review was captivated to highlight the unusual aspects of adaptation, antibiotics, and drugs beyond antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashansha Srivastava
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, BRD Medical College Campus, Gorakhpur, 273013, India
| | - Aishwarya Shukla
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, BRD Medical College Campus, Gorakhpur, 273013, India
| | - Rajeev Singh
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, BRD Medical College Campus, Gorakhpur, 273013, India
| | - Rajni Kant
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, BRD Medical College Campus, Gorakhpur, 273013, India
| | - Nalini Mishra
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, BRD Medical College Campus, Gorakhpur, 273013, India
| | - Sthita P Behera
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, BRD Medical College Campus, Gorakhpur, 273013, India
| | - Gaurav R Dwivedi
- ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, BRD Medical College Campus, Gorakhpur, 273013, India.
| | - Dharmendra K Yadav
- College of Pharmacy, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Hambakmoeiro 191, Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon, 21924, Korea
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Paskey AC, Schully KL, Voegtly LJ, Arnold CE, Cer RZ, Frey KG, Blair PW, Clark DV, Ge H, Richards AL, Farris CM, Bishop-Lilly KA. A proof of concept for a targeted enrichment approach to the simultaneous detection and characterization of rickettsial pathogens from clinical specimens. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1387208. [PMID: 38659991 PMCID: PMC11039911 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1387208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Infection with either Rickettsia prowazekii or Orientia tsutsugamushi is common, yet diagnostic capabilities are limited due to the short window for positive identification. Until now, although targeted enrichment had been applied to increase sensitivity of sequencing-based detection for various microorganisms, it had not been applied to sequencing of R. prowazekii in clinical samples. Additionally, hybridization-based targeted enrichment strategies had only scarcely been applied to qPCR of any pathogens in clinical samples. Therefore, we tested a targeted enrichment technique as a proof of concept and found that it dramatically reduced the limits of detection of these organisms by both qPCR and high throughput sequencing. The enrichment methodology was first tested in contrived clinical samples with known spiked-in concentrations of R. prowazekii and O. tsutsugamushi DNA. This method was also evaluated using clinical samples, resulting in the simultaneous identification and characterization of O. tsutsugamushi directly from clinical specimens taken from sepsis patients. We demonstrated that the targeted enrichment technique is helpful by lowering the limit of detection, not only when applied to sequencing, but also when applied to qPCR, suggesting the technique could be applied more broadly to include other assays and/or microbes for which there are limited diagnostic or detection modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian C. Paskey
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
- Leidos, Reston, VA, United States
| | - Kevin L. Schully
- Austere Environments Consortium for Enhanced Sepsis Outcomes (ACESO), Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Logan J. Voegtly
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
- Leidos, Reston, VA, United States
| | - Catherine E. Arnold
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States
| | - Regina Z. Cer
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Kenneth G. Frey
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Paul W. Blair
- Austere Environments Consortium for Enhanced Sepsis Outcomes (ACESO), Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Danielle V. Clark
- Austere Environments Consortium for Enhanced Sepsis Outcomes (ACESO), Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Hong Ge
- Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department, Infectious Diseases Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Silver Spring, MD, United States
| | - Allen L. Richards
- Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department, Infectious Diseases Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Silver Spring, MD, United States
| | - Christina M. Farris
- Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department, Infectious Diseases Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Silver Spring, MD, United States
| | - Kimberly A. Bishop-Lilly
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Department, Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Frederick, MD, United States
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Zhang Y, Hai Y, Duan B, Long H, Xie X, Teng Z, Yin F, Wang M, Xiong Y, Shao Z, Guo W, Qin A. A seminested recombinase polymerase amplification assay to detect rickettsial pathogens in clinical samples. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2023; 107:116067. [PMID: 37751629 DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2023.116067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023]
Abstract
Treatment at the early stage of onset is vital for the prognosis of rickettsioses. But the absence of specific clinical symptoms complicates the diagnosis of this condition. Herein we established a seminested recombinase polymerase amplification assay (snRPA-nfo) that enables quick detection and differentiation of rickettsial pathogens in clinical samples with high sensitivity and specificity. The conserved 17-kDa protein gene of Rickettsia sibirica and the 47-kDa protein gene of Orientia tsutsugamushi were targeted for the duplex RPA-nfo assay. The snRPA-nfo assay exhibited an increased LOD in spiked blood samples, up to 1000-fold in comparison to standard RPA-nfo, and a better detection rate (83.3%, 5/6) than TaqMan PCR (16.6%, 1/6, Ct ≤ 35) in clinically confirmed patient blood samples. Thus, snRPA-nfo assay represents a promising alternative to TaqMan PCR in the early diagnosis of rickettsioses for point-of-care testing as well as in resource-limited settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zhang
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Xilingol League, Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia, China; State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Yan Hai
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China
| | - Biao Duan
- Institute of Endemic Diseases Control and Prevention of Yunnan, Dali, Yunnan, China
| | - Hu Long
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guilin City, Guilin, Guangxi, China
| | - Xiaofei Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China; Hainan Medical College, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Zhongqiu Teng
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Feifei Yin
- Hainan Medical College, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Mingliu Wang
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangxi, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | - Yanwen Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Zhujun Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Weidong Guo
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Xilingol League, Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia, China; Institute of Endemic Diseases Control and Prevention of Yunnan, Dali, Yunnan, China.
| | - Aiping Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
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Rao RSP, Ghate SD, Shastry RP, Kurthkoti K, Suravajhala P, Patil P, Shetty P. Prevalence and heterogeneity of antibiotic resistance genes in Orientia tsutsugamushi and other rickettsial genomes. Microb Pathog 2023; 174:105953. [PMID: 36529286 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2022.105953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Despite a million infections every year and an estimated one billion people at risk, scrub typhus is regarded as a neglected tropical disease. The causative bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, a member of rickettsiae, seems to be intrinsically resistant to several classes of antibiotics. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant scrub typhus is likely to become a global public health concern. Yet, it is unknown as to how common antibiotic resistance genes are in O. tsutsugamushi, and how variable these loci are among the genomes of rickettsiae. By using the comprehensive antibiotic resistance database, we explored 79 complete genomes from 24 species of rickettsiae for antibiotic resistance loci. There were 244 unique antibiotic resistance genes in rickettsiae. Both the total and unique antibiotic resistance genes in O. tsutsugamushi were significantly less compared to other members of rickettsiae. However, antibiotic resistance genes in O. tsutsugamushi genomes were more unique and highly variable. Many genes such as resistant variants of evgS, and vanS A/G were present in numerous copies. These results will have important implications in the context of antibiotic-resistant scrub typhus.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Shyama Prasad Rao
- Center for Bioinformatics, NITTE deemed to be University, Mangaluru, 575018, India.
| | - Sudeep D Ghate
- Center for Bioinformatics, NITTE deemed to be University, Mangaluru, 575018, India
| | - Rajesh P Shastry
- Division of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Yenepoya Research Center, Yenepoya deemed to be University, Mangaluru, 575018, India
| | - Krishna Kurthkoti
- Mycobacterium Research Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, 695014, India
| | - Prashanth Suravajhala
- Amrita School of Biotechnology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Clappana PO, 690525, Kerala, India
| | - Prakash Patil
- Central Research Laboratory, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), NITTE deemed to be University, Mangaluru, 575018, India
| | - Praveenkumar Shetty
- Central Research Laboratory, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), NITTE deemed to be University, Mangaluru, 575018, India; Department of Biochemistry, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), NITTE deemed to be University, Mangaluru, 575018, India
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Treatment outcomes of oral doxycycline versus intravenous azithromycin in adults hospitalized with scrub typhus: A retrospective study using inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) propensity analysis. Travel Med Infect Dis 2022; 52:102525. [PMID: 36549418 DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2022.102525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Only a few well-designed studies that have investigated the effectiveness of azithromycin in treating adult patients hospitalized with scrub typhus are currently available. The purpose of our study was to compare the effects of intravenous azithromycin administration with those of oral doxycycline, and to evaluate cardiovascular death associated with intravenous azithromycin in adult patients hospitalized with scrub typhus. METHODS This retrospective study investigated Korean National Infectious Disease Cohort Collaborative-registered scrub typhus-infected patients who were hospitalized between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2021, and who were ≥18 years old. The primary outcome was time to fever clearance and the secondary outcomes were treatment failure, relapse, scrub typhus-related death, or azithromycin-related cardiovascular death. To address any indication bias, inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) analysis was performed. Times to fever clearance between the doxycycline and azithromycin groups were compared using log-rank tests and Kaplan-Meier curves. RESULTS A total of 326 consecutive patients with laboratory-confirmed scrub typhus were included in this study of whom 109 were treated with azithromycin and 217 with doxycycline. Using IPTW, there were no statistically significant differences in the following end points between the azithromycin and doxycycline groups: median time to fever clearance (3 days vs. 3 days, P = 0.649), treatment failure (0.71% vs. 0.42%, P = 0.702), relapse (0.0% vs. 0.0%), and scrub typhus-related death (5.12% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.155). No azithromycin-related cardiovascular deaths occurred. In the sensitivity analyses, there were no significant changes in effect size. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed that the therapeutic effects and safety of intravenous azithromycin are comparable to those of oral doxycycline administration in patients hospitalized with scrub typhus. A well-designed randomized controlled trial may help further evaluate the most adequate route of administration, dose and duration of treatment with azithromycin.
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Zhang S, Wu G, Shi Y, Liu T, Xu L, Dai Y, Chang W, Ma X. Understanding etiology of community-acquired central nervous system infections using metagenomic next-generation sequencing. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:979086. [PMID: 36225235 PMCID: PMC9549810 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.979086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundCommunity-acquired central nervous system infections (CA-CNS infections) have the characteristics of acute onset and rapid progression, and are associated with high levels of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, there have been only limited studies on the etiology of this infections. Here, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), a comprehensive diagnosis method, facilitated us to better understand the etiology of CA-CNS infections.MethodsWe conducted a single-center retrospective study between September 2018 and July 2021 in which 606 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were collected from suspected CNS infectious patients for mNGS testing, and all positive samples were included in this analysisResultsAfter the exclusion criteria, a total of 131 mNGS-positive samples were finally enrolled. Bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic, specific pathogen and mixed infections were accounted for 32.82% (43/131), 13.74% (18/131), 0.76% (1/131), 2.29% (3/131) and 6.87% (9/131), respectively. A total of 41 different pathogens were identified, including 16 bacteria, 12 viruses, 10 fungi, and 1 parasite and 3 specific pathogens. The most frequent infecting pathogens are Epstein-Barr virus (n = 14), Herpes simplex virus 1 (n = 14), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n = 13), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 13), and Cryptococcus neoformans (n = 8). Some difficult-to-diagnose pathogen infections were also detected by mNGS, such as Streptococcus suis, Pseudorabies virus, Bunyavirus, Orientia tsutsugamushi and Toxoplasma gondii.ConclusionIn this study, mNGS identified a wide variety of pathogens of CA-CNS infections and many of which could not be detected by conventional methods. Our data provide a better understanding of the etiology of CA-CNS infections and show that mNGS represents a comparative screening of CSF in an unbiased manner for a broad range of human pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanshan Zhang
- Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Gang Wu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yuru Shi
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Ting Liu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Liangfei Xu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yuanyuan Dai
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Wenjiao Chang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Xiaoling Ma
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
- *Correspondence: Xiaoling Ma,
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Bhandari S, Bhandari S, Gautam K, Jha R, Devkota S. Meningeal Signs and Cerebellar Involvement in Scrub Typhus: A Case Report. Cureus 2022; 14:e25708. [PMID: 35812590 PMCID: PMC9270076 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.25708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
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Basharat Z, Akhtar U, Khan K, Alotaibi G, Jalal K, Abbas MN, Hayat A, Ahmad D, Hassan SS. Differential analysis of Orientia tsutsugamushi genomes for therapeutic target identification and possible intervention through natural product inhibitor screening. Comput Biol Med 2022; 141:105165. [PMID: 34973586 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.105165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Revised: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Orientia tsutsugamushi (Ott) is a causative agent of scrub typhus, and one of the emerging pathogens that could affect a large human population. It is one of the misdiagnosed and under-reported, febrile illnesses that infects various body organs (skin, heart, lung, kidney, and brain). The control of this infection is hampered due to the lack of drugs or vaccine against it. This study was undertaken to identify potential drug targets from the core genome of Ott and investigate novel natural product inhibitors against them. Hence, the available genomes for 22 strains of Ott were downloaded from the PATRIC database, and pan-genomic analysis was performed. Only 202 genes were present in the core region. Among these, 94 were identified as essential, 32 non-homologous to humans, nine non-homologous to useful gut flora and a single gene dapD as a drug target. Product of this gene (2,3,4,5-tetrahydropyridine-2-carboxylate N-succinyltransferase) was modeled and docked against traditional Indian (Ayurvedic) and Chinese phytochemical libraries, with best hits selected for docking, based on multiple target-drug/s interactions and minimum energy scores. ADMET profiling and molecular dynamics simulation was performed for top three compounds from each library to assess the toxicity and stability, respectively. We presume that these compounds (ZINC8214635, ZINC32793028, ZINC08101133, ZINC85625167, ZINC06018678, and ZINC13377938) could be successful inhibitors of Ott. However, in-depth experimental and clinical research is needed for further validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zarrin Basharat
- Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan.
| | - Umaima Akhtar
- Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
| | - Kanwal Khan
- Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Science, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
| | - Ghallab Alotaibi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Al-Dawadmi Campus, Shaqra University, Shaqra, 15571, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khurshid Jalal
- HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry International Center for Chemical and Biological Science University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Naseer Abbas
- Department of Pharmacy, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, 26000, Pakistan
| | - Ajmal Hayat
- Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Diyar Ahmad
- HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry International Center for Chemical and Biological Science University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
| | - Syed Shah Hassan
- Jamil-ur-Rahman Center for Genome Research, Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan
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