Diagnosis and clinical management of enzymopathies

At least 16 genetically determined conditions qualify as red blood cell enzymopathies. They range in frequency from ultrarare to rare, with the exception of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, which is very common. Nearly all these enzymopathies manifest as chronic hemolytic anemias, with an onset often in the neonatal period. The diagnosis can be quite easy, such as when a child presents with dark urine after eating fava beans, or it can be quite difficult, such as when an adult presents with mild anemia and gallstones. In general, 4 steps are recommended: (1) recognizing chronic hemolytic anemia; (2) excluding acquired causes; (3) excluding hemoglobinopathies and membranopathies; (4) pinpointing which red blood cell enzyme is deficient. Step 4 requires 1 or many enzyme assays; alternatively, DNA testing against an appropriate gene panel can combine steps 3 and 4. Most patients with a red blood cell enzymopathy can be managed by good supportive care, including blood transfusion, iron chelation when necessary, and splenectomy in selected cases; however, some patients have serious extraerythrocytic manifestations that are difficult to manage. In the absence of these, red blood cell enzymopathies are in principle amenable to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy/gene editing.

650. LiaX as a Surrogate Marker of Daptomycin Susceptibility in Multidrug-Resistant Enterococcus faecium

Background Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) are important causes of bloodstream infections (BSI) in patients (pts) with cancer, liver disease, and foreign bodies. Daptomycin (DAP) is commonly used to treat VRE BSI, but DAP resistance (DAP-R) is increasing. Current methods to determine DAP minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) have poor reproducibility. DAP triggers the LiaFSR cell membrane stress response pathway, resulting in the extracellular release of LiaX, a protein that functions as a sentinel molecule for DAP, and controls the cell membrane response. Methods We used 6 reference Efm isolates to optimize a whole-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method for LiaX detection. We then assessed 86 clinical Efm BSI isolates recovered from 3 hospitals in Houston and Detroit for DAP MICs and used whole genome sequencing to assess for substitutions in LiaFSR/LiaXYZ proteins. We collected patient and microbiological data by chart review. Results All DAP-R reference strains had increased detection of LiaX compared to DAP-S strains (p< 0.0001). Of the 86 pts with Efm BSI, 73.2% had malignancy, 9.3% had liver disease, and 76.7% had foreign bodies. The source of 52.3% of BSIs was determined to be gastrointestinal. Two of the 86 isolates were DAP-R by CLSI breakpoints. The LiaX test and DAP MICs had a categorical agreement in 62.8% of isolates. All isolates with discordant ELISA/MIC results had DAP-S MIC (median 2, IQR 1-3)but increased LiaX. Using the genomic information, we identified 41 sites of amino acid (AA) changes in the LiaFSR/XYZ proteins of the ELISA/MIC discordant isolates. The substitutions LiaR S19F and LiaS E153K/D251E were associated with discordancy (p=0.0036 and p=0.0018, respectively). Conclusion Detection of LiaX is likely to indicate activation of the DAP-mediated cell membrane response in Efm and may be an indicator of DAP-R. Important discrepancies between LiaX and standard DAP MIC determination were found, highlighting the limitation of MIC determination. Further characterization of the discrepant isolates by time-kill assays and evaluation of patient clinical outcomes are warranted to fully validate the performance and clinical utility of the LiaX ELISA. Disclosures Truc T. Tran, PharmD, Merck (Grant/Research Support) Cesar A. Arias, M.D., MSc, Ph.D., FIDSA, Entasis Therapeutics (Grant/Research Support)MeMed Diagnostics (Grant/Research Support)Merk (Grant/Research Support)

Optimizing use of multi-antibody assays for Lyme disease diagnosis: A bioinformatic approach

Multiple different recombinant and peptide antigens are now available for serodiagnosis of Lyme disease (LD), but optimizing test utilization remains challenging. Since 1995 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended a 2-tiered serologic approach consisting of a first-tier whole-cell enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for polyvalent antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi followed by confirmation of positive or equivocal results by IgG and IgM immunoblots [standard 2-tiered (STT) approach]. Newer modified 2-tiered (MTT) approaches employ a second-tier EIA to detect antibodies to B. burgdorferi rather than immunoblotting. We applied modern bioinformatic techniques to a large public database of recombinant and peptide antigen-based immunoassays to improve testing strategy. A retrospective CDC collection of 280 LD samples and 559 controls had been tested using the STT approach as well as kinetic-EIAs for VlsE1-IgG, C6-IgG, VlsE1-IgM, and pepC10-IgM antibodies. When used individually, the cutoff for each kinetic-EIA was set to generate 99% specificity. Utilizing logistic-likelihood regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) techniques we determined that VlsE1-IgG, C6-IgG, and pepC10-IgM antibodies each contributed significant diagnostic information; a single-tier diagnostic score (DS) was generated for each sample using a weighted linear combination of antibody levels to these 3 antigens. DS performance was then compared to the STT and to MTT models employing different combinations of kinetic-EIAs. After setting the DS cutoff to match STT specificity (99%), the DS was 22.5% more sensitive than the STT for early-acute-phase disease (95% CI: 11.8% to 32.2%), 16.0% more sensitive for early-convalescent-phase disease (95% CI: 7.2% to 24.7%), and equivalent for detection of disseminated infection. The DS was also significantly more sensitive for early-acute-phase LD than MTT models whose specificity met or exceeded 99%. Prospective validation of this single-tier diagnostic score for Lyme disease will require larger studies using a broader range of potential cross-reacting conditions.

Fluoroquinolone-Induced Aortic Injury

According to clinical studies, the use of fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents is associated with such rare, but serious adverse reactions as aortic injuries. The aim of the study was to analyse scientific literature data on the risk of aortic injury during fluoroquinolone treatment. The analytical review showed that the risk factors for fluoroquinolone-induced aortic injury are male gender, age over 45 years, underlying aortic disease, as well as smoking and associated atherosclerosis. Clinical and morphological forms of fluoroquinolone-associated aortic injuries include dilatation (aneurysm development), dissection, and rupture. The analysis of data on the association between aortic injuries and the use of most common fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin) showed that development of aneurysm and dissection was most often observed for levofloxacin, and least often for ciprofloxacin. The mechanism of aortic injury is due to fluoroquinolone-mediated activation of matrix metalloproteinases which damage elastic components of vascular walls, as well as reduction in lysyl oxidase expression and collagen synthesis. The ability of fluoroquinolones to form complexes with magnesium ions reduces the availability of magnesium to the cell enzyme systems, which delays synthesis of extracellular matrix structural proteins, leads to metalloproteinase activation and calcification of the vascular walls. Prevention, early detection, and timely management of the above-mentioned issues depend on the awareness of different medical specialists about the risks of aortic injury associated with the use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

Multi-Modal Multi-Spectral Intravital Macroscopic Imaging of Signaling Dynamics in Real Time during Tumor–Immune Interactions

A major obstacle in studying the interplay between cancer cells and the immune system has been the examination of proposed biological pathways and cell interactions in a dynamic, physiologically relevant system in vivo. Intravital imaging strategies are one of the few molecular imaging techniques that can follow biological processes at cellular resolution over long periods of time in the same individual. Bioluminescence imaging has become a standard preclinical in vivo optical imaging technique with ever-expanding versatility as a result of the development of new emission bioluminescent reporters, advances in genomic techniques, and technical improvements in bioluminescence imaging and processing methods. Herein, we describe an advance of technology with a molecular imaging window chamber platform that combines bioluminescent and fluorescent reporters with intravital macro-imaging techniques and bioluminescence spectral unmixing in real time applied to heterogeneous living systems in vivo for evaluating tumor signaling dynamics and immune cell enzyme activities concurrently.

Diagnostic Potential of Monoclonal Antibodies to Adenovirus

The diagnostic potential of 4B7 and 6B12 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human adenovirus hexon protein has been studied in various immunological tests, namely: in-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cell-ELISA), sandwich ELISA, and immunofluorescent assay (IFA). It was shown that the sensitivity of cell-ELISA, sandwich ELISA and IFA was 96%, 86% and 84%, respectively as compared to PCR. Thus, 4B7 and 6B12 mAbs are promising immunoreagents for the construction of various diagnostic kits to use in laboratory practice for adenovirus detection in clinical samples. monoclonal antibodies, human adenovirus, adenovirus infection, diagnosis

Convalescent plasma therapy for B-cell–depleted patients with protracted COVID-19

Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies are widely used for the treatment of hematological malignancies or autoimmune disease but may be responsible for a secondary humoral deficiency. In the context of COVID-19 infection, this may prevent the elicitation of a specific SARS-CoV-2 antibody response. We report a series of 17 consecutive patients with profound B-cell lymphopenia and prolonged COVID-19 symptoms, negative immunoglobulin G (IgG)-IgM SARS-CoV-2 serology, and positive RNAemia measured by digital polymerase chain reaction who were treated with 4 units of COVID-19 convalescent plasma. Within 48 hours of transfusion, all but 1 patient experienced an improvement of clinical symptoms. The inflammatory syndrome abated within a week. Only 1 patient who needed mechanical ventilation for severe COVID-19 disease died of bacterial pneumonia. SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia decreased to below the sensitivity threshold in all 9 evaluated patients. In 3 patients, virus-specific T-cell responses were analyzed using T-cell enzyme-linked immunospot assay before convalescent plasma transfusion. All showed a maintained SARS-CoV-2 T-cell response and poor cross-response to other coronaviruses. No adverse event was reported. Convalescent plasma with anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies appears to be a very promising approach in the context of protracted COVID-19 symptoms in patients unable to mount a specific humoral response to SARS-CoV-2.