Disease relevance of Gas Gangrene

• Clostridium perfringens phospholipase C (Cp-PLC), also called alpha-toxin, is the major virulence factor in the pathogenesis of gas gangrene [1].
• Esophageal perforation and mediastinal gas gangrene developed in a 55-year-old male after the endoscopic ethanol injection of a Mallory-Weiss ulcer [2].
• Sacral chordoma, gas gangrene and bilateral renal cell carcinomas [3].

High impact information on Gas Gangrene

• Clostridial myonecrosis ('gas gangrene') during cephalosporin prophylaxis [4].
• Letter: Gas gangrene after intramuscular injection of epinephrine: report of fatal case [5].
• Two membrane-active toxins produced by the anaerobic C. perfringens, alpha-toxin (PLC) and perfringolysin O (PFO), are thought to be important in the pathogenesis of gas gangrene and the lack of phagocytic cells at the site of infection [6].
• We conclude that immunization with the C-domain of phospholipase C is a viable strategy for the prevention of morbidity and mortality associated with C. perfringens gas gangrene [7].
• Toxin suppression and rapid bacterial killing may in part explain the observed superior therapeutic efficacy of clindamycin, rifampin, and metronidazole compared with penicillin in the treatment of experimental gas gangrene [8].

Chemical compound and disease context of Gas Gangrene

• Cecal contents from animals with clindamycin-induced disease incubated with gas gangrene antitoxin failed to cause intestinal lesions [9].
• Case report. Fatal gas gangrene following intra-articular steroid injection [10].
• Twenty-three patients with proven myonecrotic gas gangrene of the extremities caused by Clostridium perfringens bacteria were treated by a combination of surgical measures, benzyl-penicillin and hyperbaric oxygen at three atmospheres [11].
• Case reports of gas gangrene following arthroscopy using instruments sterilised with glutaraldehyde demonstrate the inadequacy of this sterilisation method [12].
• Five antimicrobial drugs (ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, imipenem, penicillin G, and rifampin) were examined for therapeutic efficacy in a murine model gas gangrene due to Clostridium perfringens type A, following infection with large bacterial inocula [13].

Anatomical context of Gas Gangrene

• Metronidazole in the treatment of gas gangrene following lower limb amputation [14].

Gene context of Gas Gangrene

• It is concluded that tissue destruction in gas gangrene is related to profound attenuation of blood flow initiated by activation of platelet responses by PLC [15].
• Role of theta toxin, a sulfhydryl-activated cytolysin, in the pathogenesis of clostridial gas gangrene [16].
• A 20-year literature review on gas gangrene (Part I) indicates that a combined therapy approach with early recognition, surgical intervention, appropriate antibiotics, and hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) provides optimal care [17].
• Neither gas gangrene nor renal cell cancer has been reported previously in association with sacral chordoma [3].
• It is suggested that these antibiotics are restricted to a small minority of patients to prevent peri-operative septicaemia and gas-gangrene [18].

References