Application of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect antimicrobial peptides in human intestinal lumen

Intestinal transplantation is the definitive treatment for intestinal failure. However, tissue rejection and graft-versus-host disease are relatively common complications, necessitating aggressive immunosuppression that can itself pose further complications. Tracking intraluminal markers in ileal effluent from standard ileostomies may present a noninvasive and sensitive way to detect developing pathology within the intestinal graft. This would be an improvement compared to current assessments, which are limited by poor sensitivity and specificity, contributing to under or over-immunosuppression, respectively, and by the need for invasive biopsies. Herein, we report an approach to reproducibly analyze ileal fluid obtained through stoma sampling for antimicrobial peptide/protein concentrations, reasoning that these molecules may provide an assessment of intestinal homeostasis and levels of intestinal inflammation over time. Concentrations of lysozyme (LYZ), myeloperoxidase (MPO), calprotectin (S100A8/A9) and β-defensin 2 (DEFB2) were assessed using adaptations of commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). The concentration of α-defensin 5 (DEFA5) was assessed using a newly developed sandwich ELISA. Our data support that with proper preparation of ileal effluent specimens, precise and replicable determination of antimicrobial peptide/protein concentrations can be achieved for each of these target molecules via ELISA. This approach may prove to be reliable as a clinically useful assessment of intestinal homeostasis over time for patients with ileostomies.

Investigating the prevalence and risk of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy among cancer patients

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Background: Neuropathy is a common side effect of some chemotherapies. Clinical and other factors may confer neuropathy risk, but rates and risk factors across neuropathy-causing chemotherapies are incompletely understood. Methods: We examined 15 chemotherapy drugs known to confer neuropathy. Within a broad population of cancer patients who underwent treatment with these agents at the University of Chicago Medicine between 2012-2018, we determined prevalence of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, defined as patients with initiation of a neuropathy treatment medication (amitriptyline, carbamazepine, duloxetine, gabapentin, or pregabalin) after starting chemotherapy. We then analyzed chemotherapy-induced neuropathy risk for different drugs and based on clinical demographic factors. Results: We analyzed 7,866 patients (65.3% White, 53.7% Female, 27.6% Black/African-American, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 3.1% Asian/Mideast Indian, 2.4% More than one Race, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.2% Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander). The overall prevalence of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy was 24.3% across our patient population. Black/African-American patients had an increased risk of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy compared to the rest of the patient cohort (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.3-1.6, P = 1.6e-10). Females also exhibited an increased risk of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy compared to males (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.3, P = 1.5e-3). Conclusions: Certain chemotherapy agents confer substantial risk of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, and risk is increased in Blacks and females. Future work will investigate additional risk-modifying factors including the potential role of germline polymorphisms on chemotherapy neuropathy risk.[Table: see text]