Coxiella burnetii: the 'query' fever bacterium. A model of immune subversion by a strictly intracellular microorganism.
Although substantial progress occurred in the knowledge of Coxiella burnetii during the past years, the pathophysiology of Q fever is still obscure. Emerging evidence from clinical investigations suggested that certain disorders of cell-mediated immunity play a pivotal role in Q fever and especially in its chronic form. This review analyses the potential strategies that C. burnetii, a strictly intracellular pathogen, use to divert microbicidal mechanisms of macrophages and to depress protective T-cell mediated immunity. The role of monocytes in the induction of Q fever is specifically discussed.
Mege
J L
JL
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UPRESA 6020, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France.
Maurin
M
M
Capo
C
C
Raoult
D
D
D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011778:Q Fever / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology