False-positive HIV serology, Candida lusitaniae pneumonia, and a novel mutation in the CYBB gene.

BACKGROUND: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) presents with a myriad of clinical manifestations pertaining to both immunodeficiency and hyperinflammation. Although Candida infection is a signature organism for patients with CGD, C. lusitaniae pneumonia in CGD has rarely been reported. C. lusitaniae is a ubiquitous ascomycete predominantly infecting immunocompromised hosts and has the potential to rapidly develop multi-drug resistance during therapy. Additionally, C. lusitaniae is recognized for its variable resistance against amphotericin B. To date, C. lusitaniae infections in patients with CGD have not been reviewed in detail. False-positive HIV serology, resulting from polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia, has been reported in association with several infections, auto-immune diseases, and malignancies. Although CGD is often associated with hypergammaglobulinemia, a false-positive HIV serology in CGD has not been reported previously. PROCEDURE: We report a combination of unique findings in a child with CGD - a false-positive HIV serology, Candida lusitaniae pneumonia, and a novel CYBB mutation. We also provide a detailed review of C. lusitaniae infections in patients with CGD. RESULTS: In patients with CGD, C. lusitaniae has been reported to cause lymphadenitis (cervical, abdominal), fungemia, meningoencephalitis, or abscesses in the liver and spleen. Many CGD patients with C. lusitaniae infection have associated inflammatory complications of the gut (inflammatory bowel disease, colitis). Additionally, almost all C. lusitaniae infections in CGD have been reported in young infants or in patients receiving long-term immunosuppressive therapy. This reflects that further immunocompromise (in addition to the underlying immune deficiency in CGD) may specifically predispose to C. lusitaniae infection (unlike other candidal infections). Most of the CGD patients with documented C. lusitaniae infection have X-linked form of the disease which generally has been postulated to have a more severe clinical phenotype than the autosomal recessive forms of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: HIV serology may be positive in patients with CGD and other inborn errors of immunity as a result of hypergammaglobulinemia. C. lusitaniae, which may have peculiar and evolving antimicrobial sensitivity patterns, needs to be considered in patients with CGD and pneumonia. Lastly, to reiterate, CGD should to be considered in patients with proven C. lusitaniae infection.

Optimization of oxalic acid pre-treatment and enzymatic saccharification in Typha latifolia for production of reducing sugar.

BACKGROUND: Plants with high biomass can be manipulated for their reducing sugar content which ultimately upon fermentation produces ethanol. This concept was used to enhance the production of reducing sugar from cattail (Typha latifolia) by oxalic acid (OAA) pre-treatment followed by enzymatic saccharification. RESULT: The optimum condition of total reducing sugar released from OAA pre-treatment was found to be 22.32 mg/ml (OAA-1.2%; substrate concentration (SC)-6%; reaction time (RT)-20 min) using one variable at a time (OVAT). Enzymatic saccharification yielded 45.21 mg/ml of reducing sugar (substrate concentration (SC)-2.4%; enzymatic dosage-50 IU/g; pH 7.0; temp-50 °C) using response surface methodology (RSM). CONCLUSION: We conclude that Typha can be used as a potential substrate for large-scale biofuel production, employing economical bioprocessing strategies.