Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections among patients on maintenance haemodialysis: a cross-sectional study at a tertiary hospital in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections (CRBSIs) are notable complications among patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis. However, data on the prevalence of CRBSIs is lacking. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and factors associated with CRBSIs among patients receiving haemodialysis in the renal unit of the largest tertiary hospital in Ghana. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis via central venous catheters (CVC) between September 2021 and April 2022. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression was used to determine the risk factors that were predictive of CRBSI. Analysis was performed using SPSS version 23 and a p-value<0.05 was statistically significant. RESULTS: The prevalence of CRBSI was 34.2% (52/152). Of these, more than half of them (53.9%(28/52)) had Possible CRBSI while 11.5% (6/52) had Definite CRBSI. Among the positive cultures, 62% (21/34) were from catheter sites whilst the rest were from peripheral blood. Gram-negative cultures made up 53% (18/34) of positive cultures with the rest being Gram positive cultures. Acinetobacter baumannii (33.3% (6/18)) was the commonest organism isolated among Gram-negative cultures whilst Coagulase negative Staphylococci (43.7% (7/16)) was the commonest organism isolated among Gram-positve cultures. Gram-negative bacilli were more predominant in this study making up 52.9% of the total bacteria cultured. Sex, duration of maintenance dialysis, underlying cause of End-stage kidney disease, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), neutrophil count and lymphocyte count were significantly predictive of CRBSI status (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of CRBSI among patients undergoing haemodialysis. The commonest causative agent was Coagulase negative Staphylococci, however there was a predominance of Gram-negative bacilli as compared to Gram positive cocci. There is a need to set up infection surveillance unit in the renal unit to track CRBSI and put in place measures to reduce these CRBSI.

Infective endocarditis with metastatic infections in a renal transplant recipient: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Infective endocarditis is an uncommon but well-known post-transplant complication with significant morbidity and mortality. It has been observed to be about 171 times more common in solid organ transplant patients than in the general population. With the increasing rate of end-stage kidney disease, the higher demand for kidney transplantation with better graft survival, and life expectancy rates, more transplant recipients may develop infective endocarditis as a late post-transplant complication. Prompt diagnosis of infective endocarditis is therefore necessary to avert graft loss and other life-threatening outcomes. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a 52-year-old African patient who had a live donor kidney transplant 18 months prior to presentation and had been on oral tacrolimus 5 mg every morning/4.5 mg every evening, mycophenolic acid (MPA) 720 mg twice daily, and oral prednisolone 10 mg daily as maintenance immunosuppressive medications. Regarding the above immunosuppressive medications, he had been in good health and had a functioning transplant graft. He presented with a resolving right thigh swelling, recurrence of fever, new onset left hemiplegia, and seizures. Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis was diagnosed with metastatic brain abscesses, which was treated with intravenous vancomycin and gentamycin for 5 weeks. There are very few reported cases of infective endocarditis due to Enterococcus faecalis, and this case is unique because the initial presentation was pyomyositis. CONCLUSION: Infective endocarditis with septic embolization to the brain should be considered in kidney transplant recipients with pyomyositis and multiple rim-enhancing lesions, especially in the late post-transplant period with Enterococcal spp. as an emerging cause of infective endocarditis in kidney transplant recipients. Clinicians will need to have a high index of suspicion to aid early diagnosis with appropriate treatment to prevent adverse outcomes.

A descriptive study of the single-nucleotide polymorphisms known to affect the Tacrolimus trough concentration per dose, among a population of kidney failure patients in a tertiary hospital in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and kidney failure in Ghana is on the ascendency, with the prevalence of CKD estimated at 13.3%. Patients with CKD who progress to kidney failure require life sustaining kidney replacement therapy (KRT) which is almost exclusively available in Ghana as haemodialysis. Kidney transplantation is considered the best KRT option for patients with irreversible kidney failure due to its relative cost efficiency as well as its superiority in terms of survival and quality of life. However, because transplants may trigger an immune response with potential organ rejection, immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus dosing are required. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to determine single nucleotide polymorphisms in CYP3A5, CYP3A4 and MDR1 genes that affect the pharmacokinetics of Tacrolimus in a population of Ghanaian patients with kidney failure. METHOD: This cross-sectional study comprised of 82 kidney failure patients undergoing maintenance haemodialysis at the Renal and Dialysis unit of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH). Clinical and demographic data were collected and genomic DNA isolated. Samples were genotyped for specific SNPs using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: Participants, 58/82 (70.73%) harbored the wildtype CYP3A5*1/*1 AA genotype, 20/82 (24.39%) carried the heterozygous CYP3A5*1/*3 AG genotype, and 4/82 (4.88%) had the homozygous mutant CYP3A5*3/*3 GG genotype. Also, 6/82 (7.32%) carried the wildtype AA genotype, 11/82 (13.41%) had the heterozygous AG genotype, and 65/82 (79.27%) harbored the homozygous mutant GG genotype of CYP3A4*1B (-290 A>G). For MDR1_Ex21 (2677 G>T), 81/82 (98.78%) carried the wildtype GG genotype, while 1/82 (1.22%) had the heterozygous GT genotype. For MDR1_Ex26 (3435 C>T), 63/82 (76.83%) had the wildtype CC genotype, while 18/82 (21.95%) carried the heterozygous CT genotype, and 1/82 (1.22%) harbored the mutant TT genotype. CONCLUSION: SNPs in CYP3A4, CYP3A5, and MDR1 genes in a population of Ghanaian kidney failure patients were described. The varying SNPs of the featured genes suggest the need to consider the genetic status of Ghanaians kidney failure patients prior to transplantation and tacrolimus therapy.

Rationale and Design of the Diet, CKD, and Apolipoprotein L1 Study in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries.

Introduction: Diet, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) (DCA) Study is examining the role of dietary factors in CKD progression and APOL1 nephropathy. We describe enrollment and retention efforts and highlight facilitators and barriers to enrollment and operational challenges, as well as accommodations made in the study protocol. Methods: The DCA study is enrolling participants in 7 centers in West Africa. Participants who consented were invited to complete dietary recalls and 24-hour urine collections in year 1. We conducted focus groups and semistructured interviews among study personnel to identify facilitators and barriers to enrollment as well as retention and operational challenges in the execution of the study protocol. We analyzed emerging themes using content analyses. Results: A total of 712 participants were enrolled in 18 months with 1256 24-hour urine and 1260 dietary recalls. Barriers to enrollment were the following: (i) a lack of understanding of research, (ii) the burden of research visits, and (iii) incorporating cultural and traditional nuances when designing research protocols. Factors facilitating enrollment were the following: (i) designing convenient research visits, (ii) building rapport and increased communication between the research team and participants, and (iii) cultural sensitivity - adapting research protocols for the populations involved. Offering home visits, providing free dietary counseling, reducing the volume of study blood collection, and reducing the frequency of visits were some changes made in the study protocol that increased participant satisfaction. Conclusion: Adopting a participant-centered approach with accommodations in the protocol for cultural adaptability and incorporating participant feedback is vital for carrying out research in low-income and middle-income regions.

Urine-Based Detection of Biomarkers Indicative of Chronic Kidney Disease in a Patient Cohort from Ghana.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health burden with a continuously increasing prevalence associated with an increasing incidence of diabetes and hypertension in aging populations. CKD is characterized by low glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and other renal impairments including proteinuria, thus implying that multiple factors may contribute to the etiology this disease. While there are indications of ethnic differences, it is hard to disentangle these from confounding social factors. Usually, CKD is detected in later stages of the disease when irreversible renal damage has already occurred, thus suggesting a need for early non-invasive diagnostic markers. In this study, we explored the urine secretome of a CKD patient cohort from Ghana with 40 gender-matched patients and 40 gender-matched healthy controls employing a kidney injury and a more general cytokine assay. We identified panels of kidney-specific cytokine markers, which were also gender-specific, and a panel of gender-independent cytokine markers. The gender-specific markers are IL10 and MME for male and CLU, RETN, AGER, EGFR and VEGFA for female. The gender-independent cytokine markers were APOA1, ANGPT2, C5, CFD, GH1, ICAM1, IGFBP2, IL8, KLK4, MMP9 and SPP1 (up-regulated) and FLT3LG, CSF1, PDGFA, RETN and VEGFA (down-regulated). APOA1-the major component of HDL particles-was up-regulated in Ghanaian CKD patients and its co-occurrence with APOL1 in a subpopulation of HDL particles may point to specific CKD-predisposing APOL1 haplotypes in patients of African descent-this, however, needs further investigation. The identified panels, though preliminary, lay down the foundation for the development of robust CKD-diagnostic assays.