Systems Medicine to Study Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections (NSTIs).

Summary

This proposal focuses on highly lethal destructive tissue infections, i.e. necrotizing fasciitis and other necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs), which are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The fulminant course of NSTIs demands immediate diagnosis and adequate interventions in order to salvage lives and limbs. However, diagnosis and management are difficult due to heterogeneity in clinical presentation, in co-morbidities and in microbiological aetiology. Thus, there is an urgent need for novel diagnostics and therapeutics in order to improve outcome of NSTIs. A comprehensive knowledge of diagnostic features, causative microbial agent, treatment strategies, and pathogenic mechanisms (host and bacterial disease traits and their underlying interaction network) is required for an improved diagnosis and management of NSTIs. The current proposal is designed to obtain such insights through an integrated systems biology approach in patients and experimental models. The project is based on a prospective NSTI patients cohort including a clinical registry to document clinical data and treatment strategies, combined with an isolate and biobank collection. The samples will be analyzed through advanced bioinformatics and computational modelling work flow to identify and quantify pathogen signatures and underlying networks that contribute to disease outcome. One aim is to translate clinical and systems biology data into development of novel diagnostics.

Conditions

• Soft Tissue Infections
• Necrotizing Fasciitis
• Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rigshospitalet, Denmark

  collaborator OTHER

• Karolinska University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Blekinge County Council Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Sahlgrenska University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Bergen

  collaborator OTHER

• Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

  collaborator OTHER

• Wageningen University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Lyon

  collaborator OTHER

• LifeGlimmer GmbH

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Anagnostics Bioanalysis GmbH

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Lee Spark NF Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Tel Aviv University

  collaborator OTHER

• Karolinska Institutet

  lead OTHER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-01-31

Primary Completion

2017-06-30

Completion

2018-01-31

Countries

• Denmark
• Norway
• Sweden

Study Locations