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Infection and Immunity, September 1998, p. 4431-4439, Vol. 66, No. 9
Departments of Medicine-Vascular Medicine
Unit,1
Microbiology and
Immunology,2
Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine,3 and
Pediatrics,
Received 27 January 1998/Returned for modification 10 March
1998/Accepted 30 June 1998
Pneumocystis carinii is an important pulmonary pathogen
responsible for morbidity and mortality in patients with AIDS. The acute-phase response (APR), the primary mechanism used by the body to
restore homeostasis following infection, is characterized by increased
levels of circulating fibrinogen (FBG). Although the liver is the
primary site of increased FBG synthesis during the APR, we unexpectedly
discovered that FBG is synthesized and secreted by lung
alveolar epithelial cells in vitro during an inflammatory stimulus.
Therefore, we sought to determine whether lung epithelial cells produce
FBG in vivo using animal models of P. carinii
pneumonia (PCP). Inflammation was noted by an influx of macrophages
to P. carinii-infected alveoli. Northern
hybridization revealed that
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Induction of Fibrinogen Expression in the Lung
Epithelium during Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia
-FBG mRNA increased two- to fivefold
in P. carinii-infected lung tissue, while RNA in situ
hybridization demonstrated increased levels of
-FBG mRNA in the lung
epithelium. Immunoelectron microscopy detected lung epithelial
cell-specific production of FBG, suggesting induction of a localized
inflammatory response resembling the APR. A systemic APR was
confirmed by a two- to fivefold upregulation of the levels of hepatic
-FBG mRNA in animals with PCP, resulting in a corresponding increase
in levels of FBG in plasma. Furthermore, immunoelectron microscopy
revealed the presence of FBG at the junction of cell membranes
of trophic forms of P. carinii organisms aggregated along
the alveolar epithelium. These results implicate FBG in the
pathogenesis of PCP in a manner similar to that of the adhesive
glycoproteins fibronectin and vitronectin, which are known to
participate in intra-alveolar aggregation of organisms and adherence of
P. carinii to the lung epithelium.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Vascular
Medicine Unit, P.O. Box 610, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood
Ave., Rochester, NY 14642. Phone: (716) 275-8267. Fax: (716)
473-4314. E-mail: pj_simpsonhaidaris{at}urmc.rochester.edu.
Infection and Immunity, September 1998, p. 4431-4439, Vol. 66, No. 9
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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