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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Theses/Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus

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Redirection Of The Immune Response To Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Infection, Anna G. Staudacher Aug 2017

Redirection Of The Immune Response To Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Infection, Anna G. Staudacher

Theses & Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a leading cause of community- and healthcare-associated infections and has a propensity to form biofilms. Biofilm infections are recalcitrant to host immune-mediated clearance as well as antibiotics, making them exceptionally difficult to eradicate. The biofilm environment has been shown to skew the host immune response towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype, characterized by alternatively activated macrophages, recruitment of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and minimal neutrophil and T cell infiltrates. Our laboratory has attempted to redirect the host immune response towards one that would favor bacterial clearance by employing strategies to augment pro-inflammatory mechanisms. One such …


The Role Of Inflammatory Monocytes In Post-Influenza Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Pneumonia, Karl J. Fischer Aug 2016

The Role Of Inflammatory Monocytes In Post-Influenza Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Pneumonia, Karl J. Fischer

Theses & Dissertations

Secondary bacterial infections following influenza can lead to poor clinical outcomes and mortality. It is widely accepted that susceptibility to secondary bacterial infections is attributable to a suppressed innate antibacterial immunity. In contrast, a dysregulated host inflammatory response may also contribute to disease severity. Inflammation induced by viral infection alone significantly affects lung pathology, potentially exacerbating the destruction of the respiratory tract. Interestingly, the role of inflammatory mediators such as inflammatory monocytes have been extensively studied during influenza infection alone; however, their role during secondary bacterial infection are still not fully established. The objective of this study was to analyze …