title: Exacerbated type II interferon response drives hypervirulence and toxic shock by an emergent epidemic strain of Streptococcus suis.
abstract: Streptococcus suis, a major porcine pathogen, can be transmitted to humans and cause severe symptoms. A large human outbreak associated with an unusual streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome (STSLS) was described in China. Albeit an early burst of proinflammatory cytokines following Chinese S. suis infection was suggested to be responsible for STSLS case severity, the mechanisms involved are still poorly understood. Using a mouse model, the host response to S. suis infection with a North American intermediately pathogenic strain, a European highly pathogenic strain, and the Chinese epidemic strain was investigated by a whole-genome microarray approach. Proinflammatory genes were expressed at higher levels in mice infected with the Chinese strain than those infected with the European strain. The Chinese strain induced a fast and strong gamma interferon (IFN-γ) response by natural killer (NK) cells. In fact, IFN-γ-knockout mice infected with the Chinese strain showed significantly better survival than wild-type mice. Conversely, infection with the less virulent North American strain resulted in an IFN-β-subjugated, low inflammatory response that might be beneficial for the host to clear the infection. Overall, our data suggest that a highly virulent epidemic strain has evolved to massively activate IFN-γ production, mainly by NK cells, leading to a rapid and lethal STSLS.
authors.affiliation: Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montreal, St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lachance
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
authors.forename: Pehuén P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lemire
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Mariela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Segura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000382:microbiology*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D017011:Streptococcus suis / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma