FEMS immunology and medical microbiology
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FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol. · Dec 2012
Immunogenicity and therapeutic effects of Ag85A/B chimeric DNA vaccine in mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
The situation of tuberculosis (TB) is very severe in China. New therapeutic agents or regimens to treat TB are urgently needed. In this study, Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected mice were given immunotherapy intramuscularly with Ag85A/B chimeric DNA or saline, plasmid vector pVAX1, or Mycobacterium vaccae vaccine. ⋯ Compared with the saline group, 100 μg Ag85A/B chimeric DNA and 100 μg Ag85A DNA reduced the pulmonary bacterial loads by 0.79 and 0.45 logs, and the liver bacterial loads by 0.52 and 0.50 logs, respectively. Pathological changes in the lungs were less, and the lesions were more limited. These results show that Ag85A/B chimeric DNA was effective for the treatment of TB, significantly increasing the cellular immune response and inhibiting the growth of M. tuberculosis.
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FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol. · Apr 2012
The immunoregulatory role of CD4⁺ FoxP3⁺ CD25⁻ regulatory T cells in lungs of mice infected with Bordetella pertussis.
The identification of regulatory T (Treg) cells was originally based on CD25 expression; however, CD25 is also expressed by activated effector T cells. FoxP3 is a more definitive marker of Treg cells, and CD4(+) FoxP3(+) CD25(+) T cells are considered the dominant natural Treg (nTreg) population. It has been suggested that certain CD4(+) FoxP3(+) Treg cells do not express CD25. ⋯ Furthermore, CD4(+) FoxP3(+) CD25(-) IL-10(+) T cells were found in the lungs of mice at the peak of infection with B. pertussis. The rate of bacterial clearance was not affected by depletion of CD25(+) cells or in IL-10-deficient (IL-10(-/-) ) mice, but was compromised in CD25-depleted IL-10(-/-) mice. Our findings suggest that IL-10-producing CD4(+) FoxP3(+) CD25(-) T cells represent an important regulatory cell in the lung.
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FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol. · Mar 2012
Differential effector responses by circulating/blood and tissue/peritoneal neutrophils following burn combined with Enterococcus faecalis infection.
Recently we found that superimposition of Enterococcus faecalis infection on burn injury caused an eruption of host mortality not seen with either individual challenge. We hypothesized that the Enterococcus bacteria, and/or factors related to these organisms, aggravate burn-induced modulations in host defense by neutrophils. Our study focuses on alterations in neutrophils' oxidative, proteolytic, and adhesive functions and transendothelial migration of neutrophils in burn rats inoculated with E. faecalis. ⋯ The results showed differential effector responses by circulatory and/or tissue PMNs. Tissue/peritoneal PMNs produced more O(-)(2), less intracellular elastase, and increased expression of CD11b/CD18 accompanied with increased adhesivity of MIP-2-stimulated PMNs to endothelial cells as compared to circulatory/blood PMNs. This differential effect was more pronounced following burn plus E. faecalis infection, indicating that the combined injury changed neutrophil functions.
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FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol. · Mar 2010
Garlic blocks quorum sensing and attenuates the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that colonizes urinary catheters, forms biofilms, and is responsible for causing persistent and recurrent nosocomial catheter-associated urinary tract infections (UTIs). These infections show increased morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa plays a key role in biofilm formation, virulence factor production and antimicrobial resistance. ⋯ In vitro data showed decreased elaboration of virulence factors and reduced production of quorum-sensing signals by P. aeruginosa in the presence of fresh garlic extract. The results suggest that decreased virulence of P. aeruginosa in garlic-fed mice can be attributed to the quorum-sensing inhibitory property of garlic. This might have contributed towards reduced production of virulence factors, as seen in vitro.
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FEMS Immunol. Med. Microbiol. · Feb 2010
Differences between tuberculosis cases infected with Mycobacterium africanum, West African type 2, relative to Euro-American Mycobacterium tuberculosis: an update.
Mycobacterium africanum (MAF) is a common cause of human pulmonary tuberculosis in West Africa. We previously described phenotypic differences between MAF and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) among 290 patients. In the present analysis, we compared 692 tuberculosis patients infected with the two most common lineages within the (MTB) complex found in the Gambia, namely MAF West African type 2 (39% prevalence) and Euro-American MTB (55% prevalence). ⋯ MAF patients were more likely to be older and HIV infected. In addition, they had worse disease on chest X-ray, despite complaining of cough for an equal duration, and were more likely severely malnourished. In this cohort, the prevalence of MAF did not change significantly over a 7-year period.