Scholars@Duke
Julia Antoinette Messina

Julia Antoinette Messina

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Medicine, Infectious Diseases
julia.messina@duke.edu
Hanes House Room 150, Box DUMC 102359, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications

Epidemiology of Infections in Lung Transplant Recipients Treated With Belatacept.

Journal Article Transpl Infect Dis · November 4, 2024 BACKGROUND: Belatacept is a costimulatory blocker that can be used to prevent and treat rejection in lung transplant recipients (LuTRs). The epidemiology of infections in belatacept-treated LuTRs has not been systematically evaluated. METHODS: We performed ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence of infection in patients with acute myeloid leukemia receiving high-dose cytarabine consolidation.

Journal Article Ann Hematol · October 27, 2024 Infection risk during high-dose cytarabine (HiDAC) consolidation following induction therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is not well understood complicating decisions regarding antimicrobial prophylaxis during this period. We performed a retrospective ... Full text Link to item Cite

Infectious Complications Following CD30 Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy in Adults.

Journal Article medRxiv · July 11, 2024 UNLABELLED: Infections are increasingly recognized as a common complication of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. The incidence of clinically-defined infection after CD19.CAR T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory lymphoma ranges from 60-90% i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Real-World Experience With Maribavir for Treatment of Cytomegalovirus Infection in High-Risk Solid Organ Transplant Recipients.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · July 2024 We evaluated use of maribavir (MBV) for treatment of 15 episodes of refractory/resistant cytomegalovirus infection in 13 solid organ transplant recipients. Treatment failure due to treatment-emergent MBV resistance or early virological recurrence after MBV ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risk factors, management, and clinical outcomes of invasive Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma infections after lung transplantation.

Journal Article Am J Transplant · April 2024 Mollicute infections, caused by Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma species, are serious complications after lung transplantation; however, understanding of the epidemiology and outcomes of these infections remains limited. We conducted a single-center retrospective ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Description of Cryptococcosis Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Disease Survey Through the Mycosis Study Group Education and Research Consortium (MSG-19).

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · February 17, 2024 BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections have been described throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Cryptococcal disease after infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been reported in several isolated case reports and 1 lar ... Full text Link to item Cite

Efficacy of probiotic treatment as post-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19: A double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Randomized trial.

Journal Article Clin Nutr · January 2024 BACKGROUND & AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose unprecedented challenges to worldwide health. While vaccines are effective, additional strategies to mitigate the spread/severity of COVID-19 continue to be needed. Emerging evidence suggests susce ... Full text Link to item Cite

Refractory Cytomegalovirus Colitis Followed by De Novo Inflammatory Bowel Disease Post-Orthotopic Liver Transplantation.

Journal Article ACG Case Rep J · December 2023 Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are both immune-mediated complications that affect orthotopic liver transplantation patients. In this report, we present a 60-year-old man who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation for cryptog ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Susceptibility to Cryptococcus neoformans Infection with Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition.

Journal Article Infect Immun · August 16, 2023 Patients receiving the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib have an increased likelihood of fungal infections. The objectives of this study were to determine if Cryptococcus neoformans infection severity was isolate dependent with BTK inhibit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Addition of interleukin-6 receptor blockade to carfilzomib-based desensitization in a highly sensitized nonhuman primate model.

Journal Article Am J Transplant · December 2022 Sensitized patients, those who had prior exposure to foreign human leukocyte antigens, are transplanted at lower rates due to challenges in finding suitable organs. Desensitization strategies have permitted highly sensitized patients to undergo kidney tran ... Full text Link to item Cite

Home-Based Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in the United States.

Journal Article Transplant Cell Ther · April 2022 Patients undergoing allogeneic (allo) and autologous (auto) hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) require extensive hospitalizations or daily clinic visits for the duration of their transplantation. Home HCT, wherein patients live at home and providers ... Full text Link to item Cite

Financial incentives to increase stool collection rates for microbiome studies in adult bone marrow transplant patients.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2022 INTRODUCTION: In order to study the role of the microbiome in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT), researchers collect stool samples from patients at various time points throughout HCT. However, stool collection requires active subject participat ... Full text Link to item Cite

Enterococcus Intestinal Domination is Associated with Increased Mortality in the Acute Leukemia Chemotherapy Population.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · December 20, 2021 BACKGROUND: Enterococcus intestinal domination (EID), a state of dysbiosis wherein enterococci comprise ≥30% abundance within the microbiota, has been associated with Enterococcus bacteremia, graft-versus-host disease, and mortality in the allogeneic hemat ... Full text Link to item Cite

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of fluconazole as early empiric treatment of coccidioidomycosis pneumonia (Valley Fever) in adults presenting with community-acquired pneumonia in endemic areas (FLEET-Valley Fever).

Journal Article Contemp Clin Trials Commun · December 2021 INTRODUCTION: Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection endemic in the southwestern United States (US). Primary pulmonary coccidioidomycosis (PPC) is a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in this region, although its diagnosis is often delay ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of toxoplasmosis among transplant recipients at two US academic medical centers.

Journal Article Transpl Infect Dis · August 2021 Toxoplasma gondii can cause severe opportunistic infection in immunocompromised individuals, but diagnosis is often delayed. We conducted a retrospective review of solid organ transplant (SOT) and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients with t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fecal microbiota diversity disruption and clinical outcomes after auto-HCT: a multicenter observational study.

Journal Article Blood · March 18, 2021 We previously described clinically relevant reductions in fecal microbiota diversity in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Recipients of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous HCT (auto-HCT) incur similar antibioti ... Full text Link to item Cite

Chlorhexidine Gluconate Bathing Reduces the Incidence of Bloodstream Infections in Adults Undergoing Inpatient Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Journal Article Transplant Cell Ther · March 2021 Bloodstream infections (BSIs) occur in 20% to 45% of inpatient autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) patients. Daily bathing with the antiseptic chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) has been shown to reduce the incidence of BSIs in critica ... Full text Link to item Cite

Black mold takes hold and story told.

Journal Article Med Mycol Case Rep · September 2020 We present a case of an invasive Curvularia infection in a patient who developed following bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation despite receiving post-transplant antifungal prophylaxis. This infection presented as mold colonies studding the interior s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Probiotic Use and Safety in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Matched Cohort Study.

Journal Article J Pediatr · July 2020 OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of probiotic administration in infants born preterm over time, as well as the association between probiotic administration and select adverse outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a multicenter cohort study of infants ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cytomegalovirus in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Transplantation: Impact on Costs and Clinical Outcomes Using a Preemptive Strategy.

Journal Article Biol Blood Marrow Transplant · March 2020 Cytomegalovirus (CMV) results in significant morbidity and mortality following hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Establishing the cost and clinical impact is imperative to the selection of appropriate CMV preventative strategies. This is a retrospe ... Full text Link to item Cite

A case of CNS aspergillosis in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia on first-line ibrutinib therapy.

Journal Article Med Mycol Case Rep · March 2020 Ibrutinib has revolutionized the treatment of chronic lymphoid malignancies. Despite its success, ibrutinib has been linked with several reports of invasive fungal infections. We present a case of CNS aspergillosis in a CLL patient on first line ibrutinib ... Full text Link to item Cite

Microbiota as Predictor of Mortality in Allogeneic Hematopoietic-Cell Transplantation.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · February 27, 2020 BACKGROUND: Relationships between microbiota composition and clinical outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic-cell transplantation have been described in single-center studies. Geographic variations in the composition of human microbial communities and dif ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of Location of Acquisition of Gram-Positive Bloodstream Infections on Clinical Outcomes Among Patients Admitted to Community Hospitals.

Journal Article Infect Drug Resist · 2020 PURPOSE: We investigated the association between location of acquisition (LOA) of gram-positive (GP) bloodstream infections (BSI) in community hospitals and clinical outcomes. METHODS: We performed a multicenter cohort study of adult inpatients with GP BSI ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ibrutinib-associated invasive fungal diseases in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: An observational study.

Journal Article Mycoses · December 2019 BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal diseases (IFD) are life-threatening infections most commonly diagnosed in acute leukaemia patients with prolonged neutropenia and are uncommonly diagnosed in patients with lymphoproliferative diseases. OBJECTIVES: Following the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Lactose drives Enterococcus expansion to promote graft-versus-host disease.

Journal Article Science · November 29, 2019 Disruption of intestinal microbial communities appears to underlie many human illnesses, but the mechanisms that promote this dysbiosis and its adverse consequences are poorly understood. In patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantati ... Full text Link to item Cite

Financial Incentives to Increase Stool Collection Rates for Microbiome Studies in Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Patients

Conference Blood · November 13, 2019 Introduction: Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) is associated with adverse post-transplant outcomes such as graft-versus-host disease, bloodstream infections, and mortality. In order to learn more ... Full text Cite

Daily Chlorhexidine Gluconate Bathing Reduces the Rate of Bloodstream Infections in Adults Undergoing Inpatient Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Conference Blood · November 13, 2019 Introduction: While hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has great therapeutic potential, intensive conditioning regimens and variability in time to stem cell engraftment result in a period of pancytopenia and immunosuppression in which p ... Full text Cite

Genomic characterization of recurrent mold infections in thoracic transplant recipients.

Journal Article Transpl Infect Dis · October 2018 Invasive mold disease in thoracic organ transplant recipients is a well-recognized complication, but the long-term persistence of molds within the human body and evasion of host defenses has not been well-described. We present 2 cases of invasive mold dise ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical and Genomic Characterization of Recurrent Enterococcal Bloodstream Infection in Patients With Acute Leukemia.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · June 2018 BACKGROUND: Rates and risk factors for recurrent enterococcal bloodstream infection (R-EBSI) and whether the same genetic lineage causes index EBSI and R-EBSI are unknown in patients with acute leukemia (AL) receiving chemotherapy. METHODS: Ninety-two AL p ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Single-Center Long-Term Analysis of Combined Liver-Lung Transplant Outcomes.

Journal Article Transplant Direct · May 2018 BACKGROUND: Combined lung-liver transplantation (LLT) applies 2 technically challenging transplants in 1 patient with severe 2-organ failure. METHODS: Institutional medical records and United Network for Organ Sharing database were queried for patients at ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Third-party fecal microbiota transplantation following allo-HCT reconstitutes microbiome diversity.

Journal Article Blood Adv · April 10, 2018 We hypothesized that third-party fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) may restore intestinal microbiome diversity after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). In this open-label single-group pilot study, 18 subjects were enrolled befor ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transplant Drug Interactions and a Word of Caution for the HIV Provider. A Case Report.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · April 2018 Electronic medical record platforms fail to support provider alerts when a drug is discontinued. Protease inhibitors, often boosted by ritonavir or cobicistat, increase the serum concentration of calcineurin inhibitors. This case demonstrates acute liver t ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Influence of vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration on the outcome of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus left-sided infective endocarditis treated with antistaphylococcal β-lactam antibiotics: a prospective cohort study by the International Collaboration on Endocarditis.

Journal Article Clin Microbiol Infect · August 2017 OBJECTIVES: Left-sided methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) endocarditis treated with cloxacillin has a poorer prognosis when the vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is ≥1.5 mg/L. We aimed to validate this using the Internatio ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

In-hospital outcomes of premature infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Journal Article J Perinatol · July 2017 OBJECTIVE: To characterize in-hospital outcomes of premature infants diagnosed with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study including premature infants with severe BPD discharged from 348 Pediatrix Medical Group ne ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Hypercholesterolemia Increases Colorectal Cancer Incidence by Reducing Production of NKT and γδ T Cells from Hematopoietic Stem Cells.

Journal Article Cancer Res · May 1, 2017 Obesity will soon surpass smoking as the most preventable cause of cancer. Hypercholesterolemia, a common comorbidity of obesity, has been shown to increase cancer risk, especially colorectal cancer. However, the mechanism by which hypercholesterolemia or ... Full text Link to item Cite

Risk factors for group B streptococcal disease in neonates of mothers with negative antenatal testing.

Journal Article J Perinatol · February 2017 OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for early-onset group B Streptococcus (EOGBS) disease in neonates of mothers with negative antenatal screening. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a retrospective cohort study of neonates born to mother ... Full text Link to item Cite

Disseminated Cryptococcosis With Brain Involvement in Patients With Chronic Lymphoid Malignancies on Ibrutinib.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · 2017 We report 2 cases of disseminated cryptococcosis with central nervous system involvement in patients with chronic lymphoid malignancies occurring within 1 month of starting on ibrutinib. Characteristically, in both cases, no inflammation was seen in the ce ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hospital Readmissions in Patients With Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Journal Article Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · March 2016 BACKGROUND: Various transmission routes contribute to spread of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in hospitalized patients. Patients with readmissions during which CRKP is again isolated ("CRKP readmission") potentially contribute to transm ... Full text Link to item Cite

Increased in vitro phenol-soluble modulin production is associated with soft tissue infection source in clinical isolates of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus.

Journal Article J Infect · March 2016 BACKGROUND: Phenol-soluble modulins (PSM) are amphipathic proteins produced by Staphylococcus aureus that promote virulence, inflammatory response, and biofilm formation. We previously showed that MRSA isolates from soft tissue infection (SSTI) produced si ... Full text Link to item Cite

Survival Benefit of Empirical Therapy for Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Infections in Infants.

Journal Article Pediatr Infect Dis J · November 2015 BACKGROUND: The impact of early adequate empirical antibiotic therapy on outcomes of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) who develop Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections (BSI) is unknown. METHODS: Infants with S. aureus BSI discharge ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical MRSA isolates from skin and soft tissue infections show increased in vitro production of phenol soluble modulins.

Journal Article J Infect · October 2015 BACKGROUND: Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) are amphipathic, pro-inflammatory proteins secreted by most Staphylococcus aureus isolates. This study tested the hypothesis that in vitro PSM production levels are associated with specific clinical phenotypes. ME ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neonatal Escherichia coli Bloodstream Infections: Clinical Outcomes and Impact of Initial Antibiotic Therapy.

Journal Article Pediatr Infect Dis J · September 2015 BACKGROUND: Escherichia coli is a common cause of bloodstream infections (BSIs) in infants and is associated with high mortality and morbidity among survivors. The clinical significance of antibiotic resistance and timing of appropriate antimicrobial thera ... Full text Link to item Cite

Oritavancin for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.

Journal Article Expert Opin Pharmacother · May 2015 INTRODUCTION: Inpatient treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSIs) exerts a significant economic burden on the healthcare system. Oritavancin is a concentration-dependent, rapid bactericidal agent approved for the treatment o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Characterization of alpha-toxin hla gene variants, alpha-toxin expression levels, and levels of antibody to alpha-toxin in hemodialysis and postsurgical patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

Journal Article J Clin Microbiol · January 2015 Alpha-toxin is a major Staphylococcus aureus virulence factor. This study evaluated potential relationships between in vitro alpha-toxin expression of S. aureus bloodstream isolates, anti-alpha-toxin antibody in serum of patients with S. aureus bacteremia ... Full text Link to item Cite

Inhibition of p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Enhances the Apoptosis Induced by Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein in Endothelial Progenitor Cells.

Journal Article J Vasc Res · 2015 Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is an important risk factor in the development of atherosclerosis. oxLDL has been shown to decrease endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) number by inducing apoptosis. p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was sho ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hypercholesterolemia induces oxidant stress that accelerates the ageing of hematopoietic stem cells.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · January 27, 2014 BACKGROUND: Clinical studies suggest that hypercholesterolemia may cause ageing in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) because ageing-associated alterations were found in peripheral blood cells and their bone marrow residing precursors in patients with advance ... Full text Link to item Cite

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein induces apoptosis in endothelial progenitor cells by inactivating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway.

Journal Article J Vasc Res · 2010 We tested the hypothesis that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-induced inactivation of Akt within endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) is mediated at the level of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), specifically by nitrosylation of the p85 subunit of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Phase II study on the effect of disease sites, age, and prior therapy on response to iodine-131-metaiodobenzylguanidine therapy in refractory neuroblastoma.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · March 20, 2007 PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of disease sites and prior therapy on response and toxicity after iodine-131-metaiodobenzylguanidine (131I-MIBG) treatment of patients with resistant neuroblastoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred sixty-four patients with ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evaluation of semi-quantitative scoring system for metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) scans in patients with relapsed neuroblastoma.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · December 2006 BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of two semi-quantitative scoring systems to assess response to (131)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) therapy in recurrent neuroblastoma. PROCEDURES: Diagnostic mIBG scan pairs (n = 57) wer ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hematologic toxicity of high-dose iodine-131-metaiodobenzylguanidine therapy for advanced neuroblastoma.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · June 15, 2004 PURPOSE: Iodine-131-metaiodobenzylguanidine ((131)I-MIBG) has been shown to be active against refractory neuroblastoma. The primary toxicity of (131)I-MIBG is myelosuppression, which might necessitate autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AHS ... Full text Link to item Cite