Background. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common causes of hospital morbidity and mortality, but has been poorly studied in the South African context. Objective. To evaluate the incidence and outcome of VAP in the intensive care units (ICUs) of two major centres in the Durban metropolitan area. Methods. The study was conducted over a period of 6 months with all intuba...

Given the important role of inflammation and the potential association of the leukocyte trafficking-associated adhesion molecule vascular adhesion protein 1 (VAP-1) with atherosclerosis, this study examined whether functional VAP-1 is expressed in atherosclerotic lesions and, if so, whether it could be targeted by positron emission tomography (PET). First, immunohistochemistry revealed that VAP...

V entilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) continues to be a major problem in the care of intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The incidence of VAP in mechanically ventilated patients is high, ranging from 10 to 30%. The clinical symptoms of VAP are ambiguous and there is no generally accepted gold standard for the diagnosis of VAP. The associated mortality is still high at 30–40% [1, 2]. Establishe...

The FFAT motif is a targeting signal responsible for localizing a number of proteins to the cytosolic surface of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and to the nuclear membrane. FFAT motifs bind to members of the highly conserved VAP protein family, which are tethered to the cytoplasmic face of the ER by a C-terminal transmembrane domain. We have solved crystal structures of the rat VAP-A MSP homolo...

Human vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is a homodimeric 170-kDa sialoglycoprotein that is expressed on the surface of endothelial cells and functions as a semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase and as an adhesion molecule. Blockade of VAP-1 has been shown to reduce leukocyte adhesion and transmigration in in vivo and in vitro models, suggesting that VAP-1 is a potential target for anti-inflam...

OBJECTIVE Demonstrate if the institution of an educational program on VAP and its prevention is effective in helping reduce the incidence of VAP in a surgical ICU. MATERIAL AND METHOD An educational program on VAP and its prevention, which consisted of a 1-hour formal lecture, an educational handout, and a pre-and post-test exam was given to the nursing staff beginning in April 1st, 2003. Rem...

OBJECTIVES With disagreements on diagnostic criteria for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) hampering efforts to monitor incidence and implement preventative strategies, the study objectives were to develop a checklist for clinical surveillance of VAP, and conduct an audit in Australian/New Zealand intensive care units (ICUs) using the checklist. SETTING Online survey software was used for...

Insulin resistance is common in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). Serum levels of soluble vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) are also increased in these patients. The amine oxidase activity of VAP-1 stimulates glucose uptake via translocation of transporters to the cell membrane in adipocytes and smooth muscle cells. We aimed to document human hepatocellular expression of glucose tran...

BACKGROUND Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) carries significant mortality and morbidity. Predicting which patients will become infected could lead to measures to reduce the incidence of VAP. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The goal was to begin constructing a model for VAP prediction in critically-injured trauma patients, and to identify differentially expressed genes in patients who go o...

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common hospital-acquired infection.1 Criteria for the diagnosis of VAP have been published2 and widely adopted by hospital infection control surveillance programs. A number of clinical factors can make the diagnosis of VAP difficult in selected patient populations and bring the applicability of these diagnostic criteria into question.1,3,4 These diffic...