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Respiratory Medicine 2016
October 17-18, 2016
Volume 6, Issue 5(Suppl) J Pulm Respir Med
ISSN: 2161-105X JPRM, an open access journal
conferenceseries .com
October 17-18, 2016 Chicago, USA
Respiratory and Pulmonary Medicine
2nd International Conference on
J Pulm Respir Med 2016, 6:5(Suppl)
A rare case of pleural empyema caused by Clostridium baratii
Arslan Talat
Northeast Ohio Medical University, USA
Introduction: Clostridium baratii is an anaerobic, motile, Gram-positive bacterium. It is a rare cause of infant botulinum. We
present a rare case of pleural empyema caused by C. baratii.
Case Presentation: A 74-year-old female presented to ER with chief complaint of right-sided chest pain and shortness of
breath. She was discharged from the hospital 10 days ago due to small bowel obstruction caused by internal hernia resulting in
laparotomy. On examination, she was afebrile and hypoxic with O2 saturation of 89%. She had diminished breath sounds in the
right lung field. CT chest showed moderate right pleural effusion with compressive atelectasis and right lower lobe infiltrate.
She was given vancomycin, levofloxacin and cefepime for possible healthcare associated pneumonia. Ultrasound guided right
sided thoracentesis revealed exudative effusion. A 14F pigtail catheter was placed under CT guidance and tissue plasminogen
activator (tPA) was infused via catheter to help drain the fluid. Total of 3.5L pleural fluid was drained over 5 days with the
tPA infusion. Repeat cultures of pleural fluid came back positive for Clostridium baratii which was sensitive to Penicillin. The
catheter was removed and she received a PICC line. She was discharged home with home healthcare on Ampicillin-Sulbactam
to complete total of 3 weeks’ treatment. During the course of treatment her symptoms resolved.
Discussion: Clostridial pleuropulmonary infections are rare; most of these infections are attributed to Clostridiumperfringens.
Clostridiumbaratii, usually associatedwith infant botulisms has not been reported to cause pulmonary infections. Trauma, chest
surgery or other invasive procedures and underlying lung disease are often found to precede clostridial empyema. In our patient,
spread of C. baratii most likely occurred after a recent abdominal surgery which may have resulted from transdiaphragmatic
lymphatic translocation. Intra-pleural infusion of tPA is a controversial treatment for empyema. If combined with DNase may
result in better drainage. This treatment was effective in our patient and resulted in resolution of the empyema.
Conclusions: Although mostly associated with infant botulisms, Clostridium baratii may be associated with other infections
in immunocompetent patients particularly pulmonary infections. Infusion of tPA via catheter is an effective option before
considering surgery in cases with pleural empyema.
Cur cumin has a dual effect on targeting the lung cancer cell lines
Amin Tashakor, Mahshid H-Dehkordi
Apoptosis Research Centre, National University of Ireland Galway
Exposure to arsenic is one of the major causes of lung cancer due to production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Herbal
medicine is a new approach used for prevention or treatment of cancers. Among various herbal compounds, a lot of
attention has been paid to cur cumin, as antioxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-carcinogenic and anti-tumour and pro-apoptotic
properties of cur cumin have been well studied. In the present study, we investigated the effects of cur cumin on lung cancer
cell lines and arsenic-treated lung cancer cell lines, originated from different stages of lung cancer development. Here, we
measured ROS generation and caspase 3/7 activity for both cur cumin-treated cell lines and those co-treated with arsenic and
cur cumin. Then, we studied lipid peroxidation, intracellular ATP content, and cytochrome c release to further investigate how
ROS generation and cur cumin exert synergistic effects and direct cells toward apoptosis. According to our data, cur cumin
has a dual effect on ROS generation which is dependent on specific concentration as a threshold and seems to induce apoptosis
by two different mechanisms. Moreover, for the first time we report that cur cumin delays the drop in ATP levels in these
cell lines and hence provides required energy for apoptosis process. Furthermore, western blot analysis reveals that release of
cytochrome c is highest when ATP begins to drop in the presence of cur cumin. To sum it up, it seems that curcumin is strong
candidate for prevention or treatment of lung cancer, especially at stage 2.