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Infect. Immun., 09 1997, 3889-3895, Vol 65, No. 9
L Yao, JW Berman, SM Factor and FD Lowy
Staphylococcus aureus infections are often life threatening. Relatively
little is known about the host response to these infections, in particular,
the role played by cytokines. We established a mouse model of bacteremic S.
aureus infection to correlate bacteriologic findings and pathologic changes
with cytokine gene expression. Bacterial density in blood and tissue was
highest at 1 h and minimal by 48 h. Despite the rapid clearance of
bacteria, pathologic abnormalities and inflammatory cytokines were detected
after clearance of the bacteria. The number of infiltrating inflammatory
cells, as well as the size of inflammatory foci, increased with time.
Interstitial accumulation of inflammatory cells and tissue damage, such as
microabscesses, edema, and necrosis progressed following clearance of
bacteria from the tissues. Levels of tumor necrosis factor and
interleukin-1 protein in serum were detectable at 1 h and peaked at 4 h.
Interleukin-6 protein expression showed different kinetics, with low levels
detected at 1 h and increasing levels at 72 h postinfection. Tumor necrosis
factor and the interleukins were expressed in inflammatory and
noninflammatory cells in lung, liver, and heart tissues. Leukocytes in the
infected tissues were highly reactive with antibodies to the three
cytokines, suggesting that activated leukocytes are a major source of
inflammatory cytokines after staphylococcal infection. Expression of
interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 in tissue-specific cells and endothelial
cells was also detected in infected tissues, indicating that cells other
than leukocytes contribute to the elevated cytokine levels in this model.
Once initiated, expression of inflammatory cytokines contributes to the
pathogenesis of S. aureus disease.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Correlation of histopathologic and bacteriologic changes with cytokine expression in an experimental murine model of bacteremic Staphylococcus aureus infection
Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
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