Pathogenicity of environmental isolates of V. cholerae in mice.
Environmental V. cholerae (Vc) have the potential for virulence in people and they may also be a reservoir of accessory virulence genes. We infected mice with two non-O1, non-O139 Vc (TP and SIO) that were isolated in San Diego County and compared them to Vc O1 El Tor N16961 using a model of pneumonia in adult mice. Live but not heat killed Vc El Tor and TP caused fatal hemorrhagic pneumonia despite a >90% decrease in CFU in 24h suggesting the disease was toxin mediated. SIO did not cause pneumonia in normal mice but neutropenic, gp91phox and complement (C3) mice were more susceptible to all three strains. TP and SIO lack ctx but have rtxA, hlyA, and hapA, genes that encode virulence factors in Vc El Tor. The explanation for the enhanced virulence of TP remains to be determined.
Makri
Stamatoula
S
Division of Infectious Diseases, VA Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
Purdy
Alexandra E
AE
Bartlett
Douglas
D
Fierer
Joshua
J
D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000235:genetics; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000276:immunology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000382:microbiology; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D044163:Vibrio cholerae non-O1 / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003176:Complement C3; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C434464:RtxA protein, Vibrio cholerae; C084287:hlyA protein, Vibrio cholerae; D002772:Cholera Toxin; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; C039814:hemagglutinin-protease