Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Distinguished From Underlying Critical Illness By Gene Chips

Critically ill patients who are need a ventilator to breathe face a high risk of getting pneumonia. Pneumonia is very hard to diagnose due to the patient's condition which basically hides the lung disease by giving inaccurate lab test results and by hiding the symptoms. This is very dangerous because it delays appropriate treatment of antibiotic treatment. Washington University in St. Louis have come up with a new technique using gene technology allowing for doctors to detect ventilator-associated pneumonia. Research suggests that this may open up new ways to detect and treat this seriously illness.

"The team analyzed patterns of expression in more than 8,000 genes as patients on mechanical ventilators developed and recovered from pneumonia. They found changes in the activity of 85 genes could pinpoint early activation of the immune system in response to pneumonia, typically several days before clinical signs of the infection developed. By adding computational tools to their genomic analysis, the researchers also showed they could objectively monitor patients' recovery by graphing changes over time, creating a tool they called the "riboleukogram.""

Ventilator associated pneumonia is become more of a severe problem everyday. More and more patients on ventilators end up getting pneumonia -- almost 30%. Not only does this put a risk to the patients' lives, it is very expensive to keep the patients at the hospital due to the length of stay.

Scientists have tried unsuccessfully to look for a single marker that could diagnose infection in the ICU. The current study is very exciting and helpful in distinguishing infection even before it starts. After a study on patients on ventilators, it was proven that the gene chip works because all of the patients got pneumonia in the next 5 days. Fortunately, the doctors were able to administer antibiotics way in advance in order to prevent the pneumonia.

This study opens doors to more and more different types of gene therapies to diagnose and treat several critical illnesses. Identifying 85 genes that diagnose pneumonia is just one step forward in identifying hundreds of other genes to diagnose other infections before they occur. Genes can also be the key to not only diagnosing, but permanent cures.