STAT3 mutation-associated airway epithelial defects in Job syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Job syndrome is a disease of autosomal dominant hyper-IgE syndrome (AD-HIES). Patients harboring STAT3 mutation are particularly prone to airway remodeling and airway infections. OBJECTIVES: Airway epithelial cells play a central role as the first line of defense against pathogenic infection and express high levels of STAT3. This study thus interrogates how AD-HIES STAT3 mutations impact the physiological functions of airway epithelial cells. METHODS: This study created human airway basal cells expressing 4 common AD-HIES STAT3 mutants (R382W, V463del, V637M, and Y657S). In addition, primary airway epithelial cells were isolated from a patient with Job syndrome who was harboring a STAT3-S560del mutation and from mice harboring a STAT3-V463del mutation. Cell proliferation, differentiation, barrier function, bacterial elimination, and innate immune responses to pathogenic infection were quantitatively analyzed. RESULTS: STAT3 mutations reduce STAT3 protein phosphorylation, nuclear translocation, transcription activity, and protein stability in airway basal cells. As a consequence, STAT3-mutated airway basal cells give rise to airway epithelial cells with abnormal cellular composition and loss of coordinated mucociliary clearance. Notably, AD-HIES STAT3 airway epithelial cells are defective in bacterial killing and fail to initiate vigorous proinflammatory responses and neutrophil transepithelial migration in response to an experimental model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. CONCLUSIONS: AD-HIES STAT3 mutations confer numerous abnormalities to airway epithelial cells in cell differentiation and host innate immunity, emphasizing their involvement in the pathogenesis of lung complications in Job syndrome. Therefore, therapies must address the epithelial defects as well as the previously noted immune cell defects to alleviate chronic infections in patients with Job syndrome.

Case Report and Literature Review of Prosthetic Cardiovascular Mucormycosis.

We report a rare case of aorto-bi-iliac prosthetic allograft mucormycosis in a 57-year-old immunocompetent patient in France. Outcome was favorable after surgery and dual antifungal therapy with liposomal amphotericin B and isavuconazole. In a literature review, we identified 12 other cases of prosthetic vascular or heart valve mucormycosis; mortality rate was 38%.

Fungal Infections Caused by Kazachstania spp., Strasbourg, France, 2007-2020.

Rare fungal pathogens are emerging as agents of invasive fungal infections. We analyzed 13 cases of fungal infections caused by Kazachstania (Arxiozyma) spp. in Strasbourg University Hospital, Strasbourg, France. Among the cases, 4 patients had proven fungal disease (3 cases of invasive fungal disease and 1 mucocutaneous infection) and 9 were colonized by Kazachstania (Arxiozyma) spp. Candida albicans was also isolated from 11 of the 13 patients. None of the patients with proven invasive fungal disease met host criteria, but most had underlying diseases. All strains were identified as K. telluris by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and 3 were confirmed as K. bovina by internal transcribed spacer sequencing. For all tested strains, the MICs for fluconazole were >2 µg/mL. Emergence of this rare fungal infection might be explained by the increasing number of patients with immunocompromised conditions and gastroesophageal diseases.

Is COVID-19 infection more severe in kidney transplant recipients?

There are no studies which have compared the risk of severe COVID-19 and related mortality between transplant recipients and nontransplant patients. We enrolled two groups of patients hospitalized for COVID-19, that is, kidney transplant recipients (KTR) from the French Registry of Solid Organ Transplant (n = 306) and a single-center cohort of nontransplant patients (n = 795). An analysis was performed among subgroups matched for age and risk factors for severe COVID-19 or mortality. Severe COVID-19 was defined as admission (or transfer) to an intensive care unit, need for mechanical ventilation, or death. Transplant recipients were younger and had more comorbidities compared to nontransplant patients. They presented with higher creatinine levels and developed more episodes of acute kidney injury. After matching, the 30-day cumulative incidence of severe COVID-19 did not differ between KTR and nontransplant patients; however, 30-day COVID-19-related mortality was significantly higher in KTR (17.9% vs 11.4%, respectively, p = .038). Age >60 years, cardiovascular disease, dyspnea, fever, lymphopenia, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were associated with severe COVID-19 in univariate analysis, whereas transplant status and serum creatinine levels were not. Age >60 years, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, CRP >60 mg/L, lymphopenia, kidney transplant status (HR = 1.55), and creatinine level >115 µmol/L (HR = 2.32) were associated with COVID-19-related mortality in univariate analysis. In multivariable analysis, cardiovascular disease, dyspnea, and fever were associated with severe disease, whereas age >60 years, cardiovascular disease, dyspnea, fever, and creatinine level>115 µmol/L retained their independent associations with mortality. KTR had a higher COVID-19-related mortality compared to nontransplant hospitalized patients.

Devastating Gynecological Infections in Women with STAT3 Deficiency.

We provide the first description of a series of 9 severe gynecological infections (mastitis and pelvic cellulitis) occurring in the French national cohort of women with STAT3 deficiency. Each episode had unique features in terms of clinical presentation, microbial documentation, location, treatment duration, and related persistent esthetic damage.

Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with severe COVID-19: prospective analysis of 1,045 hospitalised cases in North-Eastern France, March 2020.

BackgroundIn March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.AimOur objective was to identify risk factors predictive of severe disease and death in France.MethodsIn this prospective cohort study, we included patients ≥ 18 years old with confirmed COVID-19, hospitalised in Strasbourg and Mulhouse hospitals (France), in March 2020. We respectively compared patients who developed severe disease (admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) or death) and patients who died, to those who did not, by day 7 after hospitalisation.ResultsAmong 1,045 patients, 424 (41%) had severe disease, including 335 (32%) who were admitted to ICU, and 115 (11%) who died. Mean age was 66 years (range: 20-100), and 612 (59%) were men. Almost 75% of patients with body mass index (BMI) data (n = 897) had a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (n = 661). Independent risk factors associated with severe disease were advanced age (odds ratio (OR): 1.1 per 10-year increase; 95% CrI (credible interval): 1.0-1.2), male sex (OR: 2.1; 95% CrI: 1.5-2.8), BMI of 25-29.9 kg/m2 (OR: 1.8; 95% CrI: 1.2-2.7) or ≥ 30 (OR: 2.2; 95% CrI: 1.5-3.3), dyspnoea (OR: 2.5; 95% CrI: 1.8-3.4) and inflammatory parameters (elevated C-reactive protein and neutrophil count, low lymphocyte count). Risk factors associated with death were advanced age (OR: 2.7 per 10-year increase; 95% CrI: 2.1-3.4), male sex (OR: 1.7; 95% CrI: 1.1-2.7), immunosuppression (OR: 3.8; 95% CrI: 1.6-7.7), diabetes (OR: 1.7; 95% CrI: 1.0-2.7), chronic kidney disease (OR: 2.3; 95% CrI: 1.3-3.9), dyspnoea (OR: 2.1; 95% CrI: 1.2-3.4) and inflammatory parameters.ConclusionsOverweightedness, obesity, advanced age, male sex, comorbidities, dyspnoea and inflammation are risk factors for severe COVID-19 or death in hospitalised patients. Identifying these features among patients in routine clinical practice might improve COVID-19 management.

Isavuconazole Diffusion in Infected Human Brain.

We report the cases of a 39-year-old woman with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and a 21-year-old man with chronic granulomatous disease treated for cerebral aspergillosis. The patients required radical surgery for infection progression despite adequate isavuconazole plasma concentration or neurological complication. We thus decided to measure the brain isavuconazole concentration. These results suggest that the concentrations of isavuconazole obtained in the infected brain tissue clearly differ from those obtained in the normal brain tissue and the cerebrospinal fluid.

Why are so many cases of invasive aspergillosis missed?

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) incidence is increasing in several countries like France, and numerous cases are indeed missed and still only diagnosed at autopsy as evidenced by recently published data. Such missed diagnoses are obviously encountered when appropriate diagnostic tools are not available especially in low resource areas or when biologists have not been trained enough in medical mycology (i.e., microscopic examination and culture in most of those areas). Besides logistical issues, which are indeed critical, IA may not be recognized because clinicians failed to consider that risk factors are evolving with the IA burden now observed among patients with chronic lymphoid malignancies or receiving new biotherapies, with diabetes mellitus or liver cirrhosis and/or acute alcoholic hepatitis, with patients from the intensive care unit (ICU) and among patients with some predisposing primary immune deficiencies now reaching the adult's age. This is also the case for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients who failed to meet the classical definitions of IA. From the radiology perspective, new entities of IA have also emerged which absolutely need to be recognized especially bronchial-based-IA among allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients. Finally, from the laboratory side, contribution and limits of indirect blood biomarkers should be integrated to the clinical life in order not to miss IA cases. To conclude, several diagnostic tools should be combined and a constant dialog between laboratory and clinics is crucial to appropriately diagnose IA.

Is It Time for Systematic Voriconazole Pharmacogenomic Investigation for Central Nervous System Aspergillosis?

Voriconazole is the standard treatment for invasive aspergillosis but requires therapeutic drug monitoring to optimize therapy. We report two cases of central nervous system aspergillosis treated with voriconazole. Because of low trough plasma concentrations, we identified gain-of-function mutations in CYP2C19 that were partially responsible for the therapeutic failure of voriconazole. We suggest that systematic voriconazole pharmacogenomic investigation of cerebral aspergillosis be performed to avoid effective therapy delay in this life-threatening disease.

Mucormycosis: New Developments into a Persistently Devastating Infection.

Mucormycosis is a rare, though increasingly prevalent, life-threatening fungal disease caused by Mucorales. The incidence has increased over the last decade and its mortality remains high at around 50%. Mucormycosis occurs mostly in patients with diabetes mellitus and/or in the context of immunosuppression resulting from chemotherapy for hematological malignancy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or solid-organ transplantation. In this situation, lung and rhino-orbito-cerebral infections are the most frequent localizations of the disease. Prompt initiation of an effective treatment is essential to decrease mortality. However, mucormycosis and aspergillosis share close clinical and radiological features. Invasive procedures such as bronchial endoscopy and/or lung biopsy are necessary to confirm diagnosis, as no indirect tests are yet validated. Therefore, the challenge is to minimize the delay in diagnosis. When present, the reversed halo sign on CT scan is suggestive of mucormycosis. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction is a new promising approach to detect Mucorales DNA in serum and new molecular tools are available to detect Mucorales in tissues as well as to specify species. Recommendations from ECIL and ECMM/ESCMID have recently been published on management of mucormycosis. The recommended treatment is an amphotericin B lipid formulation in combination with surgery and modification of risk factors. High-dose (10 mg/kg) of liposomal amphotericin B is recommended in case of neurological involvement and posaconazole for maintenance therapy. Place of isavuconazole as well as posaconazole new formulations (tablets and intravenous) in first line treatment have to be defined. Improved radiologic descriptions of mucormycosis and new molecular tools may be key elements to help with rapid diagnosis in the future. Clinical trials are warranted to improve therapeutic success and hopefully survival.

Fusarium, Scedosporium and Other Rare Mold Invasive Infections: Over Twenty-Five-Year Experience of a European Tertiary-Care Center.

Invasive mold infections (IMD) are an emerging concern due to the growing prevalence of patients at risk, encompassing but not limited to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, hematological malignancies patients, solid organ transplant recipients and intensive care unit patients. In contrast with invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis, other hyalohyphomycoses and phaeohyphomycoses remain poorly known. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinical, biological, microbiological and evolutive features of 92 IMD having occurred in patients in our tertiary-care center over more than 25 years. A quarter of these infections were due to multiple molds. Molds involved were Fusarium spp. (36.2% of IMD with a single agent, 43.5% of IMD with multiple agents), followed by Scedosporium spp. (respectively 14.5% and 26.1%) and Alternaria spp. (respectively 13.0% and 8.7%). Mortality at day 84 was higher for Fusarium spp., Scedosporium spp. or multiple pathogens IMD compared with Alternaria or other pathogens (51.7% vs. 17.6%, p < 0.05). Mortality at day 84 was also influenced by host factor: higher among hematology and alloHSCT patients than in other patients (30.6% vs. 20.9% at day 42 and 50.0% vs. 27.9% at day 84, p = 0.041). Better awareness, understanding and treatments are awaited to improve patient prognosis.

Is there an interest in systematic serum screening for aspergillosis in COVID-19 patients in a medical ward?

PURPOSE: We evaluated the interest of systematic screening of serum fungal markers in patients hospitalized in a medical ward. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed all patients hospitalized in our infectious disease department from October 1st to October 31st, 2020 for COVID-19 without prior ICU admission, and for whom systematic screening of serum fungal markers was performed. RESULTS: Thirty patients were included. The majority of patients received corticosteroids (96.7%). The galactomannan antigen assay was positive for 1/30 patients at D0, and 0/24, 0/16, 0/13 and 0/2 at D4, D7, D10 and D14 respectively. 1,3-ß-D-glucan was positive for 0/30, 1/24, 1/12, 0/12, 0/2 at D0, D4, D7, D10 and D14 respectively. No Aspergillus fumigatus PCR was positive. No cases of aspergillosis were retained. CONCLUSION: Our study does not support the interest of systematic screening of fungal markers in immunocompetent patients with COVID-19 in a conventional unit.

Multiple lung nodules revealing chronic pulmonary schistosomiasis.

We described the case of a Guinea-Conakry patient presented with a pulmonary Schistosoma mansoni infection. Hypereosinophilia, positive serology and multiple lung nodules led us to suspect the diagnosis. However, parasitic examination of stool and urine were negative. The diagnosis was obtained thanks to specific serum PCR.

Infectious Mediastinitis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: This study aimed to characterize the demographics, microbiology, management and treatment outcomes of mediastinitis according to the origin of the infection. Methods: This retrospective observational study enrolled patients who had mediastinitis diagnosed according to the criteria defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and were treated in Strasbourg University Hospital, France, between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2020. Results: We investigated 151 cases, including 63 cases of poststernotomy mediastinitis (PSM), 60 cases of mediastinitis due to esophageal perforation (MEP) and 17 cases of descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM). The mean patient age (standard deviation) was 63 (14.5) years, and 109 of 151 patients were male. Microbiological documentation varied according to the origin of the infection. When documented, PSM cases were mostly monomicrobial (36 of 53 cases [67.9%]) and involved staphylococci (36 of 53 [67.9%]), whereas MEP and DNM cases were mostly plurimicrobial (38 of 48 [79.2%] and 8 of 12 [66.7%], respectively) and involved digestive or oral flora microorganisms, respectively. The median duration of anti-infective treatment was 41 days (interquartile range, 21-56 days), and 122 of 151 patients (80.8%) benefited from early surgical management. The overall 1-year survival rate was estimated to be 64.8% (95% confidence interval, 56.6%-74.3%), but varied from 80.1% for DNM to 61.5% for MEP. Conclusions: Mediastinitis represents a rare yet deadly infection. The present cohort study exhibited the different patterns observed according to the origin of the infection. Greater insight and knowledge on these differences may help guide the management of these complex infections, especially with respect to empirical anti-infective treatments.