scholarly journals The chronic wound virome: phage diversity and associations with wounds and healing outcomes

Author(s):  
Samuel Verbanic ◽  
John Deacon ◽  
Irene A. Chen

Two leading impediments to chronic wound healing are polymicrobial infection and biofilm formation. Recent studies have characterized the bacterial fraction of these microbiomes and have begun to elucidate compositional correlations to healing outcomes. However, the factors that drive compositional shifts are still being uncovered. The virome may play an important role in shaping bacterial community structure and function. Previous work on the skin virome determined that it was dominated by bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. To characterize the virome, we enrolled 20 chronic wound patients presenting at an outpatient wound care clinic in a microbiome survey, collecting swab samples from healthy skin and chronic wounds before and after a single, sharp debridement procedure. We investigated the virome using a virus-like particle enrichment procedure, shotgun metagenomic sequencing, and a k-mer-based, reference-dependent taxonomic classification method. Taxonomic composition, diversity, and associations to covariates are presented. We find that the wound virome is highly diverse, with many phages targeting known pathogens, and may influence bacterial community composition and functionality in ways that impact healing outcomes.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Miguel ◽  
Seon Ho Kim ◽  
Sang Suk Lee ◽  
Yong Il Cho

Abstract Background Carcass decomposition is influenced by various factors such as temperature, humidity, microorganisms, invertebrates, and scavengers. Soil microbes play a significant role in the decomposition process. In this study, we investigated the changes in the bacterial community during carcass decomposition in soil with an intact microbial community and soil which was sterilized decomposed with and without oxygen access using 16s rRNA metagenomic sequencing. Results Based on the 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing, a total of 988 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) representing 16 phyla and 533 genera were detected. The bacterial diversity varied across the based on the alpha diversity indices. The bacterial composition in the unsterilized soil – aerobic condition (U_A) and unsterilized soil – anaerobic condition (U_An) set-ups have higher alpha diversity than the other burial set-ups. Beta diversity analysis revealed a close association in the samples according to the burial type and decomposition day. Firmicutes was the dominant phylum across all samples regardless of the burial type and decomposition day. The bacterial community composition changed throughout the decomposition process in all burial set-up. Meanwhile, the genus Bacillus dominated the bacterial community towards the end of decomposition period. Conclusions Our results showed that bacterial community composition changed during carcass decomposition and was affected by the soil and oxygen access, with microorganisms belonging to phylum Firmicutes dominating the community.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Keshani Langroodi ◽  
Yemin Lan ◽  
Ben Stenuit ◽  
Gail Rosen ◽  
Joseph B Hughes ◽  
...  

Environmental contamination by 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), historically the most widely used secondary explosive, is a long-standing problem in former military conflict areas and at manufacturing and decommissioning plants. In field test plots at a former explosives manufacturing site, removal of TNT and dinitrotoluenes (DNTs) was observed following periods of tillage. Since tilling of soils has previously been shown to alter the microbial community, this study was aimed at understanding how the microbial community is altered in soils with historical contamination of nitro explosives from the former Barksdale TNT plant. Samples of untilled pristine soils, untilled TNT-contaminated soils and tilled TNT-contaminated soils were subjected to targeted amplicon sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA genes in order to compare the structure of their bacterial communities. In addition, metagenomic data generated from the TNT tilled soil was used to understand the potential functions of the bacterial community relevant to nitroaromatic degradation. While the biodiversity dropped and the Burkholderiales order became dominant in both tilled and untilled soil regardless of tillage, the bacterial community composition at finer taxonomic levels revealed a greater difference between the two treatments. Functional analysis of metagenome assembled genome (MAG) bins through systematic review of commonly proposed DNT and TNT biotransformation pathways suggested that both aerobic and anaerobic degradation pathways were present. A proposed pathway that considers both aerobic and anaerobic steps in the degradation of TNT in the scenario of the tilled contaminated soils is presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (Sup6) ◽  
pp. S22-S25
Author(s):  
Martha Williams

In the ever-changing world of wound care and nursing, it remains apparent that chronic wounds are a growing challenge. Evidence shows that age increases the likelihood of developing a chronic wound, which supports the notion that the burden of these wounds on the NHS is likely to further intensify with the ageing population. There are many reasons why a wound may fail to progress, including wound aetiology, comorbidities and environmental and socio-economic factors. One of the most significant reasons why wounds may fail to progress and become chronic is untreated wound infection. In order for clinicians to be able to treat and manage wound infections, it is vital that they understand how infection develops, the many ways in which infections may present themselves and how and when to initiate appropriate topical and systemic therapies to treat wound bed infections. The present article provides an overview of wound bed infections and their management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crystal James ◽  
◽  
So Park ◽  
Denise Alabi ◽  
John Lantis ◽  
...  

Over the past three decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of oxygen therapy to promote wound healing. Although the most commonly recognized oxygen therapy for the treatment of chronic wounds is hyperbaric oxygen therapy, topical oxygen therapy has a greater level of evidence supporting its use in chronic wound care. Still, it is imperative that these two treatment modalities be recognized not merely as competitors, but as distinct therapeutic entities. Through personal experience and a thorough literature review, we investigated the use of topical oxygen therapy in the management of chronic wounds. The benefits of using topical oxygen therapy have been demonstrated in patients with diabetic foot ulcers, ischemic ulcers, post-revascularization ulcers, and pressure ulcers. There are several topical oxygen devices currently on the market that are versatile, relatively low-risk, and generally well-tolerated by patients. While these devices have been used in the treatment of chronic wounds at different locations and of different etiologies, other uses of these devices are still being investigated. Topical oxygen therapy is yet another tool in our arsenal to be used in treating difficult to heal chronic wounds and could potentially be used more readily.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (12) ◽  
pp. 1369-1375
Author(s):  
Victoria R. Rendell ◽  
Thomas J. Esposito ◽  
Angela Gibson

Multidisciplinary management of chronic wounds using comprehensive wound centers improves outcomes. With an increasing need for wound providers, little is known about surgeons’ roles in wound centers. An online survey of two national surgical organization members covered demographics, wound center characterization, and surgeons’ perspectives of wound centers and wound care. Surgeon perspectives were compared by age, gender, and relationship status. Three hundred sixty-four surgeons responded. Respondents were mostly older than 50 years, male, in practice older than 10 years, and used wound centers. Most respondents reported favorable experiences with wound centers but uncertainty about financial details. Most respondents were interested in formal wound care certification and participation in a wound practice, particularly as a transition to the retirement option for older surgeons. Surgeons are interested in pursuing a career focus in wound care. Further efforts are needed to educate surgeons and create a pathway for surgeons to become wound center directors. In a nationwide survey, surgeon perspectives on wound centers and wound specialization were positive, although financial understanding was limited. The importance of this finding is the support of wound care pathways for surgeons.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (Sup9b) ◽  
pp. S1-S22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgina Gethin ◽  
Sebastian Probst ◽  
Jan Stryja ◽  
Natalia Christiansen ◽  
Patricia Price

Background Chronic wounds affect an estimated 2.21 per 1000 population. They are a significant source of morbidity and affect individuals physically, psychologically, socially and financially. Person-centered care is one approach to improve patient outcomes in wound care as it values patients' perspectives, beliefs and autonomy and considers the person as a whole within the cultural context in which care is provided. Aim We aimed to review the evidence on the use of person-centered care (PCC) in chronic wound care management and provide recommendations for practice and future research. Method Using a systematic review methodology, we searched six databases for full-text papers from 2009–2019 published in peer-reviewed journals with no limits on language. Results Eighteen articles on studies involving 3149 patients from nine countries were identified. Studies were conducted under three broad intervention categories: healthcare professional education (n=1); patient education (n=14) and telemedicine (n=3). Studies were equally focused on prevention and treatment of chronic wounds. Significant improvements were reported in patient knowledge, pain and self-care behaviours. Only two studies evaluated the impact on wound healing and one study estimated the cost of implementing person-centered care. Conclusions The evidence base to support PCC in wound management is developing and based on our review has shown improved outcomes in areas of pressure ulcer prevention, patient satisfaction, patient knowledge and quality of life, but clinical outcomes such as wound healing were less well explored. Further research with more objective outcome measures are required.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 2331-2344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Rofner ◽  
Hannes Peter ◽  
Núria Catalán ◽  
Fabian Drewes ◽  
Ruben Sommaruga ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 630-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armand ALM Rondas ◽  
Jos MGA Schols ◽  
Ellen E Stobberingh ◽  
Ruud JG Halfens

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9612
Author(s):  
Tong Jia ◽  
Tingyan Guo ◽  
Baofeng Chai

This study analyzed Imperata cylindrica litter to determine variation in bacterial community composition and function along with enzyme activity as phytoremediation progresses. We found significant differences in physical and chemical properties of soil and litter in the different sub-dams investigated. The Actinobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were the dominant bacteria found in the litter of the different sub-dams. The alpha diversity (α-diversity) of litter bacterial community increased over as phytoremediation progressed, while total soil carbon and total litter carbon content were positively correlated to bacterial α-diversity. Total litter carbon and total nitrogen were the key factors that influenced bacterial community structure. Heavy metal can influence the degradation of litters by altering the composition of the microbial community. Furthermore, bacterial communities encoded with alpha-amylase (α-amylase) dominated during the initial phytoremediation stage; however, bacterial communities encoded with hemicellulase and peroxidase gradually dominated as phytoremediation progressed. Findings from this study provide a basis for exploring litter decomposition mechanisms in degraded ecosystems, which is critically important to understand the circulation of substances in copper tailings dams.


2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Akopian ◽  
Susan P. Nunnery ◽  
Jenny Piangenti ◽  
Pam Rankin ◽  
Chugo Rinoie ◽  
...  

Conventional wound care is the elementary treatment modality for treating chronic wounds. However, early treatment with topical growth factors may be needed for a subset of chronic wounds that fail to heal with good wound care alone. A prospective nonrandomized case series from a single-community outpatient wound care clinic is presented here in an effort to identify the subset of chronic wounds that may require early adjuvant intervention. There were 378 consecutive patients with 774 chronic wounds of varying etiology. All patients received 4 weeks of conventional wound care, including weekly debridement and twice-daily dressing changes. Wounds not reduced by 50 per cent volume at 4 weeks were nonrandomly treated with human skin equivalent (Apligraf®), platelet-derived wound healing factor, or platelet-derived growth factor isoform BB (becaplermin gel, Regranex®). A total of 601 of 774 (78%) wounds healed regardless of treatment type. The median time to heal for all wounds was 49 days (interquartile range = 26–93). More women than men healed (85% vs 71%, respectively, P < 0.0001). Diabetic wounds were as likely to heal as nondiabetic wounds (78% vs 80%, P = 0.5675). Wounds that did not heal had larger volumes and higher grade compared with wounds that healed (P < 0.0001 for both variables). The data presented here show that the majority of chronic wounds will heal with conventional wound care, regardless of etiology. Large wounds with higher grades are less responsive to conventional wound care and will benefit from topical growth factor treatment early in the treatment course.


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