Qiurong Li
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Transl Med
Bacterial translocation has been demonstrated as a source of sepsis in both animals and patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). The aim of this study was to define the microbiota characteristic of bacterial translocation in SAP patients and to determine a possible relationship between bacterial translocation and the disease severity. The peripheral blood was collected from 23 patients on day 4 or 5 and day 9 or 10 of SAP attack, respectively. The specimens were analyzed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and DNA sequencing. Bacterial translocation was identified in 15 patients (65.2%), most of them being polymicrobial flora. Fifty five (83.3%) of 66 clones identified were of enteric origins, in which the frequently identified organisms consisted of Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Enterobacteriaceae bacterium and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The spectrum of translocated bacteria showed significant shifts with the severity of the pancreatitis. The incidence of bacterial translocation correlated positively with APACHE-II scores of the patients (r=0.88, P=0.002). A significant relation between the numbers of polymicrobial species and SAP severity was also observed (r=0.80, P=0.000). We demonstrated for the first time a close correlation between bacterial translocation and disease severity, which enabled us to better understand the role of bacterial translocation in the pathogenesis of SAP. This study may provide new description on the prevalence and characteristic of bacterial translocation in SAP patients based on 16S rDNA-dependent molecular techniques.
Qiurong Li has completed her M.D. in 1997 from Herbin Medical University and postdoctoral studies in 2002 from Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Germany. She is the director of Research Institute of General Surgery and a professor for Surgery in Jinling Hospital. In recent years, her research works are focused on the gastrointestinal pathophysiology including gut host-microbial interactions, chronic graft dysfunction in intestinal transplantation and the injury and restoration of intestinal barrier function. She has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals such as Ann Surg, J Pathol, J Cell Mol Med, J Lipid Res,Transplantation and PLoSONE.
