Save the date! 28-29 July 2016 Australasian Brain Stimulation Conference

Save the date! The second Australasian Brain Stimulation Conference is to be held July 28-29 this year in Melbourne.

See absmeet.org for more info, to submit your abstract and to register for the meeting!

Abstract Submissions close 15 April 2016

Recent CCS publications: Week ending 18 March 2016

Recent publications with Central Clinical School affiliated authors:

Bissessor M, Tabrizi SN, Bradshaw CS, Fairley CK, Hocking JS, Garland SM, Twin J, Poljak M, Peel J, Chen MY. The contribution of Mycoplasma genitalium to the aetiology of sexually acquired infectious proctitis in men who have sex with men. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2016 Mar; 22:260-5. 
doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2015.11.016.

Dodson S, Klassen KM, McDonald K, Millard T, Osborne RH, Battersby MW, Fairley CK, Simpson JA, Lorgelly P, Tonkin A, Roney J, Slavin S,Sterjovski J, Brereton M, Lewin SR, Crooks L, Watson J, Kidd MR, Williams I, Elliott JH. HealthMap: a cluster randomised trial of interactive health plans and self-management support to prevent coronary heart disease in people with HIV.
BMC Infect Dis. 2016 Mar; 16:114.
doi: 10.1186/s12879-016-1422-5.

Epstein DS, Mitra B, Cameron PA, Fitzgerald M, Rosenfeld JV. Normalization of coagulopathy is associated with improved outcome after isolated traumatic brain injury. J Clin Neurosci. 2016 Feb. pii: S0967-5868(16)00025-4. 
doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2015.11.024.

Facey A, Pinar I, Arthur JF, Qiao J, Jing J, Mado B, Carberry J, Andrews RK, Gardiner EE. A-Disintegrin-And-Metalloproteinase (ADAM) 10 Activity on Resting and Activated Platelets. Biochemistry. 2016 Mar; 55:1187-94. 
doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.5b01102.

Fish EN, Flanagan KL, Furman D, Klein SL, Kollmann TR, Jeppesen DL, Levy O, Marchant A, Namachivayam S, Netea MG, Plebanski M, Rowland-Jones SL, Selin LK, Shann F, Whittle HC. 

Changing oral vaccine to inactivated polio vaccine might increase mortality. Lancet. 2016 Mar; 387:1054-55 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00661-9

Flanagan KL, Wilson KL, Plebanski M. Polymorphism in liver-stage malaria vaccine candidate proteins: immune evasion and implications for vaccine design. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2016 Mar; 15:389-99. doi: 10.1586/14760584.2016.1125785.

McMahon JH, Moore R, Eu B, Tee BK, Chen M, El-Hayek C, Street A, Woolley I, Buggie A, Collins D, Medland N, Hoy J; VIPER Study Group. Clinic Network Collaboration and Patient Tracing to Maximize Retention in HIV Care. PLoS One. 2015 May; 10:e0127726. 
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127726.

Medland NA, McMahon JH, Chow EP, Elliott JH, Hoy JF, Fairley CK. The HIV care cascade: a systematic review of data sources, methodology and comparability. J Int AIDS Soc. 2015 Nov; 18:20634. 
doi: 10.7448/IAS.18.1.20634.

Philpott H, Nandurkar S, Royce SG, Gibson PR. Ultrathin unsedated transnasal gastroscopy in monitoring eosinophilic esophagitis. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Mar; 31:590-4. 
doi: 10.1111/jgh.13173.

Philpott H, Nandurkar S, Royce SG, Thien F, Gibson PR. A prospective open clinical trial of a proton pump inhibitor, elimination diet and/or budesonide for eosinophilic oesophagitis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2016 Mar 4. 
doi: 10.1111/apt.13576.

New book published: Middleton's Allergy Essentials

Professor Robyn O'Hehir (Director, Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Alfred & Monash) and her international co-authors have published a book of comprehensive information on allergic disorders for medical practitioners. Middleton’s Allergy Essentials, by Professors Robyn E. O'Hehir, Stephen T. Holgate, and Aziz Sheikh, offers a concise resource that is both easily accessible and highly authoritative. Perfect for clinicians in primary and secondary care settings, this practical volume covers what is most useful in your daily practice, with a strong emphasis on disease diagnosis and management.

See more or order at:
https://elsevier.ca/product.jsp?isbn=9780323375795

Interactions of bacterial and fungal pathogens in humans

By Dr Jodie Abramovitch

Multi-drug resistant bacteria strains are becoming an increasingly serious problem within a clinical setting. One type of bacteria that can rapidly acquire antibiotic resistance and cause problems in humans is Acinetobacter baumannii. Often A. baumannii is found alongside the fungus Candida albicans which can cause yeast infections, especially within intensive care wards.

Professor Anton Peleg

Monash researchers led by Professor Anton Peleg from the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology had previously noted that A. baumannii and C. albicans were able to inhibit each other’s growth under certain conditions. To explore this interaction further, this study sought to understand the molecular mechanisms behind the inhibition of growth of A. baumannii by C. albicans.

Farnesol is a compound secreted by C. albicans continuously during its growth. This compound was shown to be able to inhibit growth of A. baumannii. Farnesol, upon further investigation, was found to interfere with gene expression that was responsible for maintaining the cell membrane and controlling cell division of the bacterium. The ability of the bacteria to create a biofilm (many bacteria adhere to one another in a protective layer) and move were also greatly impaired by farsenol secreted by C. albicans. This means that the infectivity of A. baumannii was greatly reduced.

This study of bacterial-fungal interactions has increased the understanding of how C. albicans can inhibit the growth and viability of A. baumannii. As such, this study concluded that by understanding how pathogens can compete with one another may allow for the identification of novel antimicrobials for the treatment of problematic human pathogens.

Reference: Kostoulias X, Murray GL, Cerqueira GM, Kong JB, Bantun F, Mylonakis E, Khoo CA, Peleg AY. Impact of a Cross-Kingdom Signaling Molecule of Candida albicans on Acinetobacter baumannii Physiology. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2015 Oct; 60:161-7. 

doi: 10.1128/AAC.01540-15.

Entries sought for “Snapshots of the immune system” DoI photo exhibition 2016

Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial (BPAE) cell imaged with confocal microscope.
Image courtesy Monash Microimaging.

Researchers at all levels are invited to apply and submit images featuring the amazing immune system as part of the 2016 Day of Immunology activities. These can be histology, confocal, laboratory scenes, public health related, and everything in between. Entries close 28 March

Mary Ajamian Fulbright scholar with Gastroenterology Department

Mary Ajamian running a Zonulin assay.
She is seeking clinical trial participants

Mary Ajamian is a visiting Fulbright scholar with the CCS Department of Gastroenterology.  She is investigating the mechanisms behind the neurobehavioural effects of gluten. She recently presented at a Fulbright Presentation Event, where scholars had the chance to meet Australian as well as American leaders, celebrate their accomplishments, and present their research to the community. 

Media mention: "Well worth the weight" on outcomes of high volume bariatric surgery in the public system

Bariatric surgery has not been widely used in the Australian public health system. As obesity is strongly associated with socio-economic status, excluding its use from the public system will deny many of the most in-need access to a potentially very effective treatment. Alternatively, with rigorous follow-up and behavioural change requirements, highly successful outcomes in the private system may not translate to the public system. Patients were older, heavier and suffered more co-morbid disease than previously reported cohorts. This article by Monash-Alfred researchers concluded however that for the first time, excellent outcomes across a range of key quality domains in a large patient cohort have been reported in the public system. High-volume bariatric surgery in the public system is viable.

Reference: Burton P, Brown W, Chen R, Shaw K, Packiyanathan A, Bringmann I, Smith A, Nottle P. Outcomes of high-volume bariatric surgery in the public system. NZ J Surg. 2015 Oct 16. doi: 10.1111/ans.13320. [Epub ahead of print]