Transcriptional response in the peripheral blood of patients infected with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi.
We used microarrays and transcriptional profiling of peripheral blood to investigate the host response of 29 individuals who contracted typhoid fever in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Samples were taken over a nine month period encompassing acute disease, convalescence, and recovery. We found that typhoid fever induced a distinct and highly reproducible signature in the peripheral blood that changed during treatment and convalescence, returning in the majority of cases to the "normal" profile as measured in healthy uninfected controls. Unexpectedly, there was a strong, distinct signature of convalescence present at day 9 after infection that remained virtually unchanged one month after acute infection and in some cases persisted as long as nine months despite a complete clinical recovery in all patients. Patients who retain the convalescent signature may be genetically or temporarily incapable of developing an effective immune response and may be more susceptible to reinfection, relapse, or the establishment of a carrier state.
Thompson
Lucinda J
LJ
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 299 Campus Drive, Room D300, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA.
Dunstan
Sarah J
SJ
Dolecek
Christiane
C
Perkins
Tim
T
House
Deborah
D
Dougan
Gordon
G
Nguyen
Thi Hue
TH
Tran
Thi Phi La
TP
Doan
Cong Du
CD
Le
Thi Phuong
TP
Nguyen
Thi Dung
TD
Tran
Tinh Hien
TH
Farrar
Jeremy J
JJ
Monack
Denise
D
Lynn
David J
DJ
Popper
Stephen J
SJ
Falkow
Stanley
S
D000208:Acute Disease; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003289:Convalescence; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012485:Salmonella typhi / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013997:Time Factors; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014744:Vietnam