Diagnosis and treatment of invasive aspergillosis
AssigneeThe Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.
InventorsSophia Koo, Horatio R. Thomas, Lindsey R. Baden, Francisco M. Marty
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Abstract
Methods for diagnosing, treating, and monitoring the treatment of invasive aspergillosis (IA) are described. The methods can include detecting the presence of one or more volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the breath of subjects suspected of having IA.
Claims10
A method of treating a subject who has invasive aspergillosis (IA), the method comprising:
- obtaining a sample comprising breath of a subject or headspace from a culture suspected of comprising Aspergillus isolated from a subject;
- detecting the presence in the sample at least two or more VOCs selected from the group consisting of camphene, α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, α-trans-bergamotene, β-trans-bergamotene, and trans-geranylacetone;
- and
- administering an antifungal treatment to the subject who has at least two or more of camphene, α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, α-trans-bergamotene, β-trans-bergamotene, and trans-geranylacetone.
A method of monitoring efficacy of a treatment for invasive aspergillosis (IA) in a subject, the method comprising:
- determining a first level of at least two or more volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by the Aspergillus species in a sample comprising breath from the subject or headspace from a culture suspected of comprising Aspergillus isolated from the subject, wherein the VOCs are selected from the group consisting of camphene, α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, α-trans-bergamotene, β-trans-bergamotene, trans-geranylacetone, elixene, alpha-santalene, beta-elemene, acoradien, chamigrene, 1,5,9-trimethyl cyclododecatriene, 9-decene-2-one and beta-sesquiphellandrene, in the subject;
- administering a treatment for IA to the subject;
- determining a second level of the VOCs in a sample obtained after administration of the treatment to the subject;
- and
- comparing the first and second levels of VOCs, wherein a decrease in the VOCs indicates that the treatment has been effective in treating the IA in the subject, and an increase or no change indicates that the treatment has not been effective in treating the IA in the subject.
A method of identifying a candidate compound for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in a subject, the method comprising:
- providing a test culture suspected of comprising one or more Aspergillus species from the subject;
- detecting a baseline level of at least two or more fungal VOCs in headspace obtained from the test culture in the absence of the test compound, wherein the VOCs are selected from the group consisting of camphene, α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, α-trans-bergamotene, β-trans-bergamotene, trans-geranylacetone, elixene, alpha-santalene, beta-elemene, acoradien, chamigrene, 1,5,9-trimethyl cyclododecatriene, 9-decene-2-one and beta-sesquiphellandrene, in the subject;
- contacting the test culture with a test compound;
- determining a second level of the VOCs in the test culture;
- comparing the second level of VOCs to the baseline level;
- and
- identifying a test compound that decreases levels of fungal VOCs in the test culture as a candidate compound for the treatment of IA.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.