Ana Luiza de Mattos Guaraldi

Corynebacterium ulcerans diphtheria: an emerging zoonosis in Brazil and worldwide

The article is a literature review on the emergence of human infections caused by Corynebacterium ulcerans in many countries including Brazil. Articles in Medline/PubMed and SciELO databases published between 1926 and 2011 were reviewed, as well as articles and reports of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. It is presented a fast, cost-effective and easy to perform screening test for the presumptive diagnosis of C. ulcerans and C. diphtheriae infections in most Brazilian public and private laboratories. C. ulcerans spread in many countries and recent isolation of this pathogen in Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, is a warning to clinicians, veterinarians, and microbiologists on the occurrence of zoonotic diphtheria and C. ulcerans dissemination in urban and rural areas of Brazil and/or Latin America.O artigo revisa a literatura sobre a emergencia de infeccoes humanas causadas por Corynebacterium ulcerans em diversos paises, incluindo o Brasil. Foi realizada analise de artigos publicados entre 1926 e 2011 nas bases Medline/PubMed e SciELO, bem como artigos e informes do Ministerio da Saude. Apresenta-se um esquema de triagem, rapido, economico e de facil execucao, capaz de permitir a realizacao do diagnostico presuntivo de C. ulcerans e C. diphtheriae na maioria dos laboratorios brasileiros publicos e privados. A circulacao de C. ulcerans em varios paises, aliada aos recentes casos de isolamento do patogeno no Rio de Janeiro, e um alerta a clinicos, veterinarios e microbiologistas sobre a ocorrencia de difteria zoonotica e a circulacao do C. ulcerans em regioes urbanas e rurais do territorio nacional e/ou da America Latina.

Difteria pelo Corynebacterium ulcerans: uma zoonose emergente no Brasil e no mundo

The article is a literature review on the emergence of human infections caused by Corynebacterium ulcerans in many countries including Brazil. Articles in Medline/PubMed and SciELO databases published between 1926 and 2011 were reviewed, as well as articles and reports of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. It is presented a fast, cost-effective and easy to perform screening test for the presumptive diagnosis of C. ulcerans and C. diphtheriae infections in most Brazilian public and private laboratories. C. ulcerans spread in many countries and recent isolation of this pathogen in Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, is a warning to clinicians, veterinarians, and microbiologists on the occurrence of zoonotic diphtheria and C. ulcerans dissemination in urban and rural areas of Brazil and/or Latin America.O artigo revisa a literatura sobre a emergencia de infeccoes humanas causadas por Corynebacterium ulcerans em diversos paises, incluindo o Brasil. Foi realizada analise de artigos publicados entre 1926 e 2011 nas bases Medline/PubMed e SciELO, bem como artigos e informes do Ministerio da Saude. Apresenta-se um esquema de triagem, rapido, economico e de facil execucao, capaz de permitir a realizacao do diagnostico presuntivo de C. ulcerans e C. diphtheriae na maioria dos laboratorios brasileiros publicos e privados. A circulacao de C. ulcerans em varios paises, aliada aos recentes casos de isolamento do patogeno no Rio de Janeiro, e um alerta a clinicos, veterinarios e microbiologistas sobre a ocorrencia de difteria zoonotica e a circulacao do C. ulcerans em regioes urbanas e rurais do territorio nacional e/ou da America Latina.

Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium ulcerans and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis—General Aspects

Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium ulcerans and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis are potentially diphtheria toxin -producing microorganisms related to different infectious processes involving both human and animal hosts. This chapter aims to concise the current aspects concerning to the pathogenesis, epidemiology of diseases caused by those species and transmission amongst human and animal hosts. Aspects related to virulence factors, diagnosis and some molecular features observed after genome sequencing of some isolates were also approached.

Pathogenicity of Rhodococcus equi in mice, isolated from environment, human and horse clinical samples

Rhodococcus equi is a facultative intracellular pathogen associated with bronchopneumonia, mesenteric lymphadenitis and enterocolitis in foals. Although R. equi is likely to be found in every horse-breeding farm, the clinical disease is unrecognized in most of them. Capsule components, equi factor, micolic acid and some products encoded by the large 85-90Kb plasmid were described as virulence factors. However, the pathogenesis of R. equi infections and the sensibility of foals are not completely understood. The aim of this study was evaluate the virulence of R. equi isolated from human, horses and environment for mices. Nine strains carrying the 85-90Kb plasmid isolated from foal clinical specimens, one from immunodeficient human patient and six plasmidless strains (four isolated from feces, one from pasture and one from immunodeficient human patient) were inoculated in cyclophosphamide immunossuppressed mice. The pathological changes and viability of R. equi cells in the liver of mice was verified after the 3rd, 6th an 10th day after inoculation for horse and environmental isolates and for R. equi isolates from human patients on the 1st, 3rd and 6th day. During the necropsy procedures, infiltrate of macrophages and pyogranulomatous lesions were detected after the sixth pos-inoculation day in the liver and spleen. In horse isolates, only plasmid positive strains were virulent, but in human isolates both strains (plasmid positive e plasmid negative) were virulent. Both groups of the immunossupressed mice inoculated with R. equi isolated from environment showed pathological changes. All R. equi strains were unable to kill non imunossuppressed mice.

The C-terminal coiled-coil domain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae DIP0733 is crucial for interaction with epithelial cells and pathogenicity in invertebrate animal model systems

BackgroundCorynebacterium diphtheriae is the etiologic agent of diphtheria and different systemic infections. The bacterium has been classically described as an extracellular pathogen. However, a number of studies revealed its ability to invade epithelial cells, indicating a more complex pathogen-host interaction. The molecular mechanisms controlling and facilitating internalization of C. diphtheriae still remains unclear. Recently, the DIP0733 transmembrane protein was found to play an important role in the interaction with matrix proteins and cell surfaces, nematode colonization, cellular internalization and induction of cell death.ResultsIn this study, we identified a number of short linear motifs and structural elements of DIP0733 with putative importance in virulence, using bioinformatic approaches. A C-terminal coiled-coil region of the protein was considered particularly important, since it was found only in DIP0733 homologs in pathogenic Corynebacterium species but not in non-pathogenic corynebacteria. Infections of epithelial cells and transepithelial resistance assays revealed that bacteria expressing the truncated form of C. diphtheriae DIP0733 and C. glutamicum DIP0733 homolog are less virulent, while the fusion of the coiled-coil sequence to the DIP0733 homolog from C. glutamicum resulted in increased pathogenicity. These results were supported by nematode killing assays and experiments using wax moth larvae as invertebrate model systems.ConclusionsOur data indicate that the coil-coiled domain of DIP0733 is crucial for interaction with epithelial cells and pathogenicity in invertebrate animal model systems.

Draft Genome Sequence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis Strain PA06 Isolated from a Subauricular Abscess in an Ovine Host

ABSTRACT We report here the draft genome sequence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis PA06, isolated from a subauricular abscess in an ovine host. C. pseudotuberculosis is a worldwide pathogen of small and large ruminants. The genome comprises 2,320,074 bp, with a G+C content of 52.2%, 2,195 coding sequences, 48 tRNAs, and three rRNAs.

Difteria por Corynebacterium ulcerans: una zoonosis emergente en Brasil y en el mundo

The article is a literature review on the emergence of human infections caused by Corynebacterium ulcerans in many countries including Brazil. Articles in Medline/PubMed and SciELO databases published between 1926 and 2011 were reviewed, as well as articles and reports of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. It is presented a fast, cost-effective and easy to perform screening test for the presumptive diagnosis of C. ulcerans and C. diphtheriae infections in most Brazilian public and private laboratories. C. ulcerans spread in many countries and recent isolation of this pathogen in Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, is a warning to clinicians, veterinarians, and microbiologists on the occurrence of zoonotic diphtheria and C. ulcerans dissemination in urban and rural areas of Brazil and/or Latin America.O artigo revisa a literatura sobre a emergencia de infeccoes humanas causadas por Corynebacterium ulcerans em diversos paises, incluindo o Brasil. Foi realizada analise de artigos publicados entre 1926 e 2011 nas bases Medline/PubMed e SciELO, bem como artigos e informes do Ministerio da Saude. Apresenta-se um esquema de triagem, rapido, economico e de facil execucao, capaz de permitir a realizacao do diagnostico presuntivo de C. ulcerans e C. diphtheriae na maioria dos laboratorios brasileiros publicos e privados. A circulacao de C. ulcerans em varios paises, aliada aos recentes casos de isolamento do patogeno no Rio de Janeiro, e um alerta a clinicos, veterinarios e microbiologistas sobre a ocorrencia de difteria zoonotica e a circulacao do C. ulcerans em regioes urbanas e rurais do territorio nacional e/ou da America Latina.