SRBF Front Page	Infection and Immunity group
Associated Research Group Infection, Injury and Inflammation Group	The Infection and Immunity Group is using molecular and cellular approaches to study the immune mechanisms that control the body’s response to pathogens and tissue injury and to understand their role in inflammation and infection in critical illness and other pathological conditions. The group is working closely with healthcare professionals and academics in critical care, high risk surgery, microbiology and immunology to develop translational research focussed on delivery of real improvements in patient care. Molecular Diagnosis of Infection. Healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) are a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the NHS. The group is evaluating the use of PCR technology to improve the speed and accuracy of infection diagnosis in critical care and the potential benefits in optimising clinical decision making and antibiotic use. Detection and species identification of bacterial and fungal pathogens using real-time PCR and high resolution melt (HRM) analysis is under investigation and the group has recently been chosen by Health Technology Assessment to undertake the first large scale clinical trial of this technology for the detection of bloodstream infection in intensive care in the UK. Barrier Dysfunction and Gut Inflammation Gut barrier disruption leading to increased exposure to the luminal flora may underlie several acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. The mechanisms of barrier dysfunction in two areas, sepsis in the critically ill and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are being studied including the pathways by which bacteria translocate across the gut during inflammatory and metabolic stress and identification of the early gut mucosal changes that precede the onset of inflammation in IBD. Translational research is focusing on the identification of circulating enterocyte-specific proteins as diagnostic indicators of gut barrier dysfunction in patients undergoing high risk surgery. . Immune Dysfunction in Critical Illness Identification of biomarkers of patient outcome and complication risk during perioperative care is an important aim. Changes in inflammatory cytokines, markers of vascular endothelial and gut damage and markers of infection in patients undergoing high risk abdominal surgery and intensive care patients at high risk of HCAI are being analysed to provide a detailed phenotypic profile with which to assess the clinical usefulness of these markers. Tissue Models of Gut Function The group has expertise in the use of ex vivo gut tissues from patients undergoing elective surgery as a model to study the delivery and effectiveness of orally administered drugs, including the regional distribution of key drug transporter proteins along the human gut. Selected References Follow Link
Laboratory Staff & Students Geoff Warhurst Pam Davies Norman Higgs Stephanie Gibson Huda Al-griw Hani Ozbak