Host-Based Peripheral Blood Gene Expression Analysis for Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Emerging pandemic infectious threats, inappropriate antibacterial use contributing to multidrug resistance, and increased morbidity and mortality from diagnostic delays all contribute to a need for improved diagnostics in the field of infectious diseases. Historically, diagnosis of infectious diseases has relied on pathogen detection; however, a novel concept to improve diagnostics in infectious diseases relies instead on the detection of changes in patterns of gene expression in circulating white blood cells in response to infection. Alterations in peripheral blood gene expression in the infected state are robust and reproducible, yielding diagnostic and prognostic information to help facilitate patient treatment decisions.

Diagnosing and Managing Sepsis by Probing the Host Response to Infection: Advances, Opportunities, and Challenges

“…Other investigators have described gene sets based on peripheral blood gene expression for the diagnosis of infections (reviewed elsewhere [51]). However, most of these have used complex algorithms that required local retraining in independent cohorts and so cannot be said strictly to have been validated.…”

Microbiome applications for pathology: challenges of low microbial biomass samples during diagnostic testing

“…Certain host genes are transcribed when fighting an infectious disease, and these transcripts, or their absence, can be detected using current transcriptomic approaches, providing additional clues to the type of infection . Quantifying the level of these particular transcripts can also distinguish between an infectious and non‐infectious disease . 2.…”

Challenges in the Diagnosis and Management of Bacterial Lung Infections in Solid Organ Recipients: A Narrative Review

“…Despite its undoubted clinical relevance, the performance of conventional microbiology is still suboptimal in many circumstances, especially in the setting of SOTRs, where the rapid and accurate identification of the causative pathogens of respiratory infections is critical for appropriate therapeutic management [3]. The most significant pitfalls of conventional microbiology are described below.…”

“…First, the rapid and accurate identification of the causative pathogens of lung infections is critical for the appropriate therapeutic management of patients and to avert fatal outcomes. Unfortunately, conventional microbiology is characterized by suboptimal diagnostic accuracy, and few studies have attempted to describe the etiologic distribution of lung infections in SOTRs [3]. Second, the adverse outcomes associated with lung infections in SOTRs have led to the common use of prolonged courses of broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents in SOTRs.…”