title: Lawsonia intracellularis: getting inside the pathogenesis of proliferative enteropathy.
abstract: Although proliferative enteropathy (PE) has been recognised for several decades, Lawsonia intracellularis, the aetiological agent, was identified formally in only 1995. This organism is both highly fastidious and obligately intracellular bacterium, characteristics which have inevitably restricted investigations in all aspects of its biology. Despite these limitations, advances have been made in characterising and understanding L. intracellularis-host interaction both in vivo and in vitro. Based upon evidence provided by mainly pathological and histological investigations conducted to date, we review salient features of our current understanding of processes involved throughout the course of infection by this unique pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Zoonotic and Animal Pathogens Research Laboratory, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Scotland EH8 9AG, Edinburgh, UK. dgesmith@vet.ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lawson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D004751:Enteritis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006965:Hyperplasia; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D020639:Lawsonia Bacteria / Q000472:pathogenicity*