{"id":13625,"date":"2013-04-25T11:56:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=13625"},"modified":"2013-04-25T11:56:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T15:56:00","slug":"faster-automated-test-developed-for-sepsis-causing-fungus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=13625","title":{"rendered":"Faster, Automated Test Developed for Sepsis-Causing Fungus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sample collection module on T2MR system (T2 Biosystems)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A test for Candida<\/em>, a fungal infection that can lead to sepsis, identified the pathogen in whole blood samples in a few hours, rather than the two to five days needed by current tests. Researchers from T2 Biosystems<\/a>, a biotechnology company in Lexington, Massachusetts, with colleagues from Brown University and Harvard University medical schools published their findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine<\/em><\/a> (paid subscription required).<\/p>\n

Candida<\/em> is a common source of hospital-acquired infections, a fungus that affects the blood stream, and is occuring more frequently to become the fourth most common pathogen found in blood cultures in the U.S. Candidemia<\/a>, the infections resulting from Candida<\/em>, can lead to sepsis<\/a>, a dangerous life-threatening complication, where inflammation throughout the body can damage multiple organs and result in septic shock. Candida<\/em> infections in the blood have a mortality rate of 40 percent, due largely from the extended time needed to test blood for the pathogen.<\/p>\n

T2 Biosystems develops diagnostics using complex specimens like whole blood that combine nanotechnology, genomics, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in a technology called T2MR<\/a>. The test used in the study, known as T2Candida, harnesses polymerase chain reaction, a genomic technique that amplifies DNA in Candida<\/em> and binds to nanoparticles, coated with a complementary strand of DNA. This binding action causes the nanoparticles with the amplified Candida<\/em> DNA to cluster, making them detectiable with T2 Biosystems’ MRI technology.<\/p>\n

In the paper, researchers were able to detect Candida<\/em> species in human whole blood, in concentrations as low as 1 colony-forming unit per milliliter, in less than three hours. No pre-treatment or purification of the samples were conducted. Tests run with samples of various concentrations showed 98 percent agreement when Candida<\/em> fungi were present and 100 percent agreement when absent.<\/p>\n

The team also tested 21 blinded clinical specimens using the T2 method, which found similar results to traditional blood culture<\/a> lab tests to detect infections. The T2MR technology, however, was able to detect Candida<\/em> organisms in the presence of antifungal compounds, while blood cultures could not. The technology — still considered investigational and not yet approved by FDA for clinical use — is portable and automated, rather than relying on human visual judgements.<\/p>\n

“T2MR represents a revolutionary, highly-sensitive nanotechnology solution, which can rapidly detect pathogens leading to early intervention that can save lives,” says Robert Langer, professor of biomedical engineering at MIT and co-founder of T2 Biosystems. The company’s founders<\/a> include faculty from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as MIT.<\/p>\n

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