Pestilence, persistence and pathogenicity: infection strategies of Bartonella

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Pestilence, persistence and pathogenicity: infection strategies of

Bartonella

Authors: Minnick, Michael F1; Battisti, James M

_http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/fm/fmb/2009/00000004/00000006/art00012_

(http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/fm/fmb/2009/00000004/00000006/art00012)

 

Source: Future Microbiology, Volume 4, Number 6, August 2009 , pp.

743-758(16) Publisher: Future Medicine

 

Abstract:

 

It has been nearly two decades since the discovery of Bartonella as an

agent of bacillary angiomatosis in AIDS patients and persistent bacteremia and

`nonculturable' endocarditis in homeless people. Since that time, the

number of Bartonella species identified has increased from one to 24, and 10 of

these bacteria are associated with human disease. Although Bartonella is

the only genus that infects human erythrocytes and triggers pathological

angiogenesis in the vascular bed, the group remains understudied compared with

most other bacterial pathogens. Numerous questions regarding Bartonella's

molecular pathogenesis and epidemiology remain unanswered. Virtually every

mammal harbors one or more Bartonella species and their transmission

typically involves a hematophagous arthropod vector. However, many details

regarding epidemiology and the public health threat imposed by these animal

reservoirs is unclear. A handful of studies have shown that bartonellae are

highly-adapted pathogens whose parasitic strategy has evolved to cause

persistent infections of the host. To this end, virulence attributes of

Bartonella

include the subversion of host cells with effector molecules delivered via a

type IV secretion system, induction of pathological angiogenesis through

various means, including inhibition of apoptosis and activation of

hypoxia-inducing factor 1, use of afimbrial adhesins that are orthologs of

Yersinia

adhesin A, incorporation of lipopolysaccharides with low endotoxic potency

in the outer membrane, and several other virulence factors that help

Bartonella infect and persist in erythrocytes and endothelial cells of the host

circulatory system.