scholarly journals Determination of NK cell immunophenotype and cytokine profile in patients with Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Author(s):  
Carolina Maynez-Prieto ◽  
Jaime R Adame-Gallegos ◽  
Moises Ramirez-Lopez ◽  
Estefania Quintana-Mendias ◽  
Blanca E Estrada-Aguirre ◽  
...  

The intracellular pathogen Rickettsia rickettsii causes tick-borne spotted fever (also called Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and is increasingly recognized as an emerging cause of febrile illness in Mexico. However, little is known about the early immune responses to infection. Four RMSF pediatric patients on acute phase and eight healthy controls from Chihuahua, Mexico were recruited. The natural killer cell (NK) immunophenotype and the cytokine profile in peripheral blood were characterized by flow cytometry. The population of cytotoxic NK cells expressing NKG2D was significantly decreased in patients on 3rd day of hospitalization compared to the first sampling on admission. Interleukins IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 levels were significantly increased in patients upon admission compared to controls. This study shows that circulating NK cells are numerically decreased, while cytokines induce a pro-inflammatory process in patients.

Praxis ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (47) ◽  
pp. 1869-1870
Author(s):  
Balestra ◽  
Nüesch

Eine 37-jährige Patientin stellt sich nach der Rückkehr von einer Rundreise durch Nordamerika mit einem Status febrilis seit zehn Tagen und einem makulösem extremitätenbetontem Exanthem seit einem Tag vor. Bei suggestiver Klinik und Besuch der Rocky Mountains wird ein Rocky Mountain spotted fever diagnostiziert. Die Serologie für Rickettsia conorii, die mit Rickettsia rickettsii kreuzreagiert, war positiv und bestätigte die klinische Diagnose. Allerdings konnte der beweisende vierfache Titeranstieg, möglicherweise wegen spät abgenommener ersten Serologie, nicht nachgewiesen werden. Nach zweiwöchiger antibiotischer Therapie mit Doxycycline waren Status febrilis und Exanthem regredient.


Author(s):  
Kyle P. Gerarden ◽  
Andrew M. Fuchs ◽  
Jonathan M. Koch ◽  
Melissa M. Mueller ◽  
David R. Graupner ◽  
...  

Rocky Mountain spotted fever is caused byRickettsia rickettsiiinfection.R. rickettsiican be transmitted to mammals, including humans, through the bite of an infected hard-bodied tick of the family Ixodidae. Since theR. rickettsiigenome contains only one cold-shock-like protein and given the essential nature of cold-shock proteins in other bacteria, the structure of the cold-shock-like protein fromR. rickettsiiwas investigated. With the exception of a short α-helix found between β-strands 3 and 4, the solution structure of theR. rickettsiicold-shock-like protein has the typical Greek-key five-stranded β-barrel structure found in most cold-shock domains. Additionally, theR. rickettsiicold-shock-like protein, with a ΔGof unfolding of 18.4 kJ mol−1, has a similar stability when compared with other bacterial cold-shock proteins.


1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
E B Breitschwerdt ◽  
M G Davidson ◽  
B C Hegarty ◽  
M G Papich ◽  
C B Grindem

Dogs were experimentally inoculated with Rickettsia rickettsii to determine if anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive dosages of prednisolone, when administered in conjunction with an antirickettsial antibiotic (doxycycline), induced therapeutically relevant pathophysiological consequences that ultimately influence disease outcome. Although the duration of rickettsemia was prolonged in dogs receiving immunosuppressive, but not anti-inflammatory, corticosteroids, concurrent administration of doxycycline and corticosteroids conferred no other detected detrimental effects. Treatment with doxycycline or doxycycline in conjunction with prednisolone resulted in decreased R. rickettsii-specific antibody titers; however, examination of appropriately timed acute- and convalescent-phase serum samples would have facilitated an accurate diagnosis of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in all 16 dogs. We conclude that the concurrent use of anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive doses of prednisolone in conjunction with doxycycline, early in the course of experimental RMSF, confers no clinically relevant detrimental effects and that additional studies might be indicated to detect possible beneficial effects in cases of severe or potentially fulminant RMSF. However, because the illness induced in these dogs was of mild to moderate severity, the results of this study should definitely not be construed as supporting the safety or efficacy of prednisolone for treatment of severe canine or human RMSF.


Author(s):  
Christopher D. Paddock ◽  
Marta A. Guerra ◽  
James E. Childs ◽  
David L. Swerdlow

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (15) ◽  
pp. 4578-4584 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sayeedur Rahman ◽  
Jason A. Simser ◽  
Kevin R. Macaluso ◽  
Abdu F. Azad

ABSTRACT The type I signal peptidase lepB genes from Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia typhi, the etiologic agents of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and murine typhus, respectively, were cloned and characterized. Sequence analysis of the cloned lepB genes from R. rickettsii and R. typhi shows open reading frames of 801 and 795 nucleotides, respectively. Alignment analysis of the deduced amino acid sequences reveals the presence of highly conserved motifs that are important for the catalytic activity of bacterial type I signal peptidase. Reverse transcription-PCR and Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the lepB gene of R. rickettsii is cotranscribed in a polycistronic message with the putative nuoF (encoding NADH dehydrogenase I chain F), secF (encoding protein export membrane protein), and rnc (encoding RNase III) genes in a secF-nuoF-lepB-rnc cluster. The cloned lepB genes from R. rickettsii and R. typhi have been demonstrated to possess signal peptidase I activity in Escherichia coli preprotein processing in vivo by complementation assay.


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