Understanding the Consumption of Antimicrobial Resistance-Related Content on Social Media: Twitter Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most pressing concerns in our society. Today, social media can function as an important channel to disseminate information about AMR. The way in which this information is engaged with depends on a number of factors, including the target audience and the content of the social media post. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to better understand how AMR-related content is consumed on the social media platform Twitter and to understand some of the drivers of engagement. This is essential to designing effective public health strategies, raising awareness about antimicrobial stewardship, and enabling academics to effectively promote their research on social media. METHODS: We took advantage of unrestricted access to the metrics associated with the Twitter bot @AntibioticResis, which has over 13,900 followers. This bot posts the latest AMR research in the format of a title and a URL link to the PubMed page for an article. The tweets do not contain other attributes such as author, affiliation, or journal. Therefore, engagement with the tweets is only affected by the words used in the titles. Using negative binomial regression models, we measured the impact of pathogen names in paper titles, academic attention inferred from publication counts, and general attention estimated from Twitter on URL clicks to AMR research papers. RESULTS: Followers of @AntibioticResis consisted primarily of health care professionals and academic researchers whose interests comprised mainly AMR, infectious diseases, microbiology, and public health. Three World Health Organization (WHO) critical priority pathogens-Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacteriaceae-were positively associated with URL clicks. Papers with shorter titles tended to have more engagements. We also described some key linguistic characteristics that should be considered when a researcher is trying to maximize engagement with their publication. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding suggests that specific pathogens gain more attention on Twitter than others and that the levels of attention do not necessarily correspond to their status on the WHO priority pathogen list. This suggests that more targeted public health strategies may be needed to raise awareness about AMR among specific pathogens. Analysis of follower data suggests that in the busy schedules of health care professionals, social media offers a fast and accessible gateway to staying abreast of the latest developments in this field.

Furanone loaded aerogels are effective antibiofilm therapeutics in a model of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa wound infection.

Almost 80% of chronic wounds have a bacterial biofilm present. These wound biofilms are caused by a range of organisms and are often polymicrobial. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most common causative organisms in wound infections and readily forms biofilms in wounds. To coordinate this, P. aeruginosa uses a process known as quorum sensing. Structural homologues of the quorum sensing signalling molecules have been used to disrupt this communication and prevent biofilm formation by Pseudomonas. However, these compounds have not yet reached clinical use. Here, we report the production and characterisation of a lyophilised PVA aerogel for use in delivering furanones to wound biofilms. PVA aerogels successfully release a model antimicrobial and two naturally occurring furanones in an aqueous environment. Furanone loaded aerogels inhibited biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa by up to 98.80%. Further, furanone loaded aerogels successfully reduced total biomass of preformed biofilms. Treatment with a sotolon loaded aerogel yielded a 5.16 log reduction in viable biofilm bound cells in a novel model of chronic wound biofilm, equivalent to the current wound therapy Aquacel AG. These results highlight the potential utility of aerogels in drug delivery to infected wounds and supports the use of biofilm inhibitory compounds as wound therapeutics.

Artificial sweeteners inhibit multidrug-resistant pathogen growth and potentiate antibiotic activity.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing concerns of our time. The human diet is rich with compounds that alter bacterial gut communities and virulence-associated behaviours, suggesting food additives may be a niche for the discovery of novel anti-virulence compounds. Here, we identify three artificial sweeteners, saccharin, cyclamate and acesulfame-K (ace-K), that have a major growth inhibitory effect on priority pathogens. We further characterise the impact of ace-K on multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, demonstrating that it can disable virulence behaviours such as biofilm formation, motility and the ability to acquire exogenous antibiotic-resistant genes. Further analysis revealed the mechanism of growth inhibition is through bulge-mediated cell lysis and that cells can be rescued by cation supplementation. Antibiotic sensitivity assays demonstrated that at sub-lethal concentrations, ace-K can resensitise A. baumannii to last resort antibiotics, including carbapenems. Using a novel ex vivo porcine skin wound model, we show that ace-K antimicrobial activity is maintained in the wound microenvironment. Our findings demonstrate the influence of artificial sweeteners on pathogen behaviour and uncover their therapeutic potential.

Furanone quorum-sensing inhibitors with potential as novel therapeutics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Micro-organisms use quorum sensing (QS), a cell density-dependent process, to communicate. This QS mode of interchange leads to the production of a variety of virulence factors, co-ordination of complex bacterial behaviours, such as swarming motility, degradation of host tissue and biofilm formation. QS is implicated in numerous human infections and consequently researchers have sought ways of effectively inhibiting the process in pathogenic bacteria. Two decades ago, furanones were the first class of chemical compounds identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa QS inhibitors (QSIs). P. aeruginosa is a ubiquitous organism, capable of causing a wide range of infections in humans, including eye and ear infections, wound infections and potentially fatal bacteraemia and thus novel treatments against this organism are greatly needed. This review provides a brief background on QS and the use of furanones as QSIs. Based on the effectiveness of action, both in vivo and in vitro, we will explore the use of furanones as potential antimicrobial therapeutics and conclude with open questions.

Evaluation of flavourings potentially used in a heated tobacco product: Chemical analysis, in vitro mutagenicity, genotoxicity, cytotoxicity and in vitro tumour promoting activity.

We designed a novel tobacco-heating product (THP) that heats tobacco to release nicotine and aerosolised components, such as glycerol and tobacco volatiles from a tobacco rod (Neostik). Heating tobacco significantly reduces levels of combustion-derived toxicants in the aerosol compared to cigarette smoke. This study was conducted to determine whether the inclusion of potential flavourings in the THP would add to the levels of toxicants in the emissions or alter in vitro responses. Levels of measured toxicants were similar in the flavoured and unflavoured Neostik emissions and significantly less than emissions from the reference cigarette, 3R4F. No mutagenicity was observed with the Neostiks in the Ames test or in the mouse lymphoma assay. There was evidence of a weak genotoxic response in the in vitro micronucleus test using V79 cells from both Neostiks and these responses were less than 3R4F. They did not show tumour-promoting potential in the Bhas 42 cell transformation assay and were not cytotoxic in the Neutral Red uptake assay. 3R4F elicited toxic responses in all assays at significantly lower concentrations. The addition of flavourings to the Neostik tested did not alter the chemical profile of THP emissions or change in vitro responses relative to the unflavoured Neostik.

Viral HCV RNA reactivity of corneal cells in plasma HCV nucleic acid-positive eye donors.

PURPOSE: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a worldwide health concern according to the World Health Organization, and a positive serology test for HCV is currently one of the most common reasons for tissue rejection for transplantation. Demonstrating the presence or absence of viral RNA or DNA in corneal cells, a privileged avascular site, verifies the importance of screening and testing protocols, which eliminate individual donor tissue from potential release for transplantation. METHODS: Improved tests such as nucleic acid test (NAT) have added a significant advantage in the arsenal of measures employed to determine donor eligibility. Standard testing for blood using nucleic acid technology was applied to aliquots of corneal cells obtained by scraping pooled epithelial and endothelial cells from individual donor corneas. RESULTS: Results of the current study further confirm and extend the importance of NAT blood tests by the demonstration of a high percentage (77%) of corneal cells that test positive with HCV NAT in conjunction with concomitant serum-positive ocular tissue donor samples. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide important support for Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that state that 3 of 4 seropositive individuals were also viremic, and reemphasize the importance of routine NAT blood testing in assuring safe tissue transplants.