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Urine D-arabinitol/L-arabinitol ratio in diagnosis of invasive candidiasis in newborn infants

Sigmundsdottir, Gudrun LU ; Christensson, Bertil LU ; Björklund, Lars LU ; Håkansson, Kristina ; Pehrson, Christina LU and Larsson, Lennart LU (2000) In Journal of Clinical Microbiology 38(8). p.3039-3042
Abstract
Infants treated in neonatal intensive care units suffer an increased risk for invasive candidiasis, but the diagnosis is sometimes difficult. D-arabinitol is a metabolite of most pathogenic Candida species. An elevated urine D-arabinitol/L-arabinitol (DA/LA) ratio is a sensitive sign of invasive candidiasis in children with cancer, but the method has not been previously evaluated for newborn infants. We therefore enrolled 117 infants in a neonatal intensive care unit, and 411 urine samples were obtained on filter paper. The DA/LA ratio was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. For 81 infants with no suspicion of superficial or invasive candidiasis, the urine DA/LA ratio was 2.7 +/- 0.7 (mean +/- standard deviation [SD]). The... (More)
Infants treated in neonatal intensive care units suffer an increased risk for invasive candidiasis, but the diagnosis is sometimes difficult. D-arabinitol is a metabolite of most pathogenic Candida species. An elevated urine D-arabinitol/L-arabinitol (DA/LA) ratio is a sensitive sign of invasive candidiasis in children with cancer, but the method has not been previously evaluated for newborn infants. We therefore enrolled 117 infants in a neonatal intensive care unit, and 411 urine samples were obtained on filter paper. The DA/LA ratio was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. For 81 infants with no suspicion of superficial or invasive candidiasis, the urine DA/LA ratio was 2.7 +/- 0.7 (mean +/- standard deviation [SD]). The upper cutoff level was set at 4.8 (mean plus 3 SD). Of 22 infants with mucocutaneous candidiasis and not given systemic antifungal treatment, two had elevated DA/LA ratios, which normalized after removal of intravascular catheters. Eight other infants were given empiric antifungal treatment but had negative cultures; five of these had repeatedly elevated DA/LA ratios. Six infants with culture-positive invasive candidiasis all had one or more samples with elevated ratios. For seven infants, three with suspected and four with confirmed invasive candidiasis (for which follow-up samples were available), ratios normalized during antifungal treatment. In conclusion, urine DA/LA ratio determination is a rapid test and can be used for newborns. It is possibly more sensitive than fungal blood cultures in the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis and can also be used for monitoring the effect of antifungal treatment. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
volume
38
issue
8
pages
3039 - 3042
publisher
American Society for Microbiology
external identifiers
  • pmid:10921974
  • scopus:0033874136
ISSN
1098-660X
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Paediatrics (Lund) (013002000), Division of Infection Medicine (SUS) (013008000), Division of Medical Microbiology (013250400)
id
c6847fb6-c06d-427b-9e23-827ec9f20d07 (old id 1117433)
alternative location
http://jcm.highwire.org/cgi/content/full/38/8/3039
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:15:58
date last changed
2022-01-28 18:28:36
@article{c6847fb6-c06d-427b-9e23-827ec9f20d07,
  abstract     = {{Infants treated in neonatal intensive care units suffer an increased risk for invasive candidiasis, but the diagnosis is sometimes difficult. D-arabinitol is a metabolite of most pathogenic Candida species. An elevated urine D-arabinitol/L-arabinitol (DA/LA) ratio is a sensitive sign of invasive candidiasis in children with cancer, but the method has not been previously evaluated for newborn infants. We therefore enrolled 117 infants in a neonatal intensive care unit, and 411 urine samples were obtained on filter paper. The DA/LA ratio was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. For 81 infants with no suspicion of superficial or invasive candidiasis, the urine DA/LA ratio was 2.7 +/- 0.7 (mean +/- standard deviation [SD]). The upper cutoff level was set at 4.8 (mean plus 3 SD). Of 22 infants with mucocutaneous candidiasis and not given systemic antifungal treatment, two had elevated DA/LA ratios, which normalized after removal of intravascular catheters. Eight other infants were given empiric antifungal treatment but had negative cultures; five of these had repeatedly elevated DA/LA ratios. Six infants with culture-positive invasive candidiasis all had one or more samples with elevated ratios. For seven infants, three with suspected and four with confirmed invasive candidiasis (for which follow-up samples were available), ratios normalized during antifungal treatment. In conclusion, urine DA/LA ratio determination is a rapid test and can be used for newborns. It is possibly more sensitive than fungal blood cultures in the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis and can also be used for monitoring the effect of antifungal treatment.}},
  author       = {{Sigmundsdottir, Gudrun and Christensson, Bertil and Björklund, Lars and Håkansson, Kristina and Pehrson, Christina and Larsson, Lennart}},
  issn         = {{1098-660X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{3039--3042}},
  publisher    = {{American Society for Microbiology}},
  series       = {{Journal of Clinical Microbiology}},
  title        = {{Urine D-arabinitol/L-arabinitol ratio in diagnosis of invasive candidiasis in newborn infants}},
  url          = {{http://jcm.highwire.org/cgi/content/full/38/8/3039}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2000}},
}