Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia endotypes research ("SABER")
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of S. aureus bacteraemia endotypes using routine clinical data
IRAS ID
323209
Contact name
Clark D Russell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Staphylococcus aureus is a species of bacteria which can cause life-threatening disease in humans. Globally, S. aureus is the bacteria that causes the second highest number of deaths associated with antibiotic resistance (Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators, Lancet 2022). The World Health Organisation consider S. aureus as a high priority for the development of new antibiotics (according to their ‘Priority Pathogens’ list). S. aureus disease can affect multiple parts of the body (e.g. skin, bones, heart valves) and in severe disease bacteria are often also present in the bloodstream (bacteraemia, previously referred to as septicaemia). For this reason, clinical trials of new antibiotic approaches against S. aureus often recruit people with S. aureus bacteraemia (referred to using the acronym SAB). Unfortunately, so far only a minority of these clinical trials have identified beneficial treatment approaches.
SAB is very variable because of differences in bacterial strains, the pre-existing health problems of people getting infected, and the part of the body the disease affects. In the study of other diseases, for example the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), this type of variation is used to define distinct disease sub-groups (called endotypes). In ARDS, people with different disease endotypes respond differently to specific treatments. It is therefore possible that in SAB different endotypes also exist and might respond differently to different treatment approaches. If these endotypes could be identified, they could be used in the analysis and conduct of clinical trials to look for more personalised treatment approaches.
The aim of this project is to use routinely collected clinical data in hospital records of people with SAB to look for disease endotypes. If identified, these could be applied retrospectively and prospectively to clinical trials of new treatments for SAB.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
23/SS/0025
Date of REC Opinion
24 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion