Mouse skin damage caused by cytolysin from Vibrio vulnificus and by V. vulnificus infection.
Light and electron microscopy of mouse skin damage caused by intradermal infection with a virulent strain of Vibrio vulnificus and by a single intradermal injection of the cytolytic toxin produced by the bacterium revealed similar structural alterations. The epidermis was intact; however, the infection and toxin produced acute cellulitis characterized by extensive extracellular edema; disorganization of collagen bundles; large accumulations of cell debris and plasma proteins; damaged or necrotic fat cells, capillary endothelial cells, and muscle cells; and mild inflammatory cell infiltration. The virulent strain of V. vulnificus produced a capsule and was resistant to phagocytosis in vivo, whereas a weakly virulent strain of the bacterium did not produce a capsule and was readily phagocytized and digested. Factors that may be important in the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus wound infections include a capsule that inhibits phagocytosis and an extracellular cytolytic toxin that is responsible, at least in part, for the severe tissue damage characteristic of such wound infections.
D000818:Animals; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D010587:Phagocytosis; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D014733:Vibrio / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D014774:Virulence
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003603:Cytotoxins