1
|
Eijkelkamp BA, Morey JR, Neville SL, Tan A, Pederick VG, Cole N, Singh PP, Ong CLY, Gonzalez de Vega R, Clases D, Cunningham BA, Hughes CE, Comerford I, Brazel EB, Whittall JJ, Plumptre CD, McColl SR, Paton JC, McEwan AG, Doble PA, McDevitt CA. Dietary zinc and the control of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection. PLoS Pathog 2019; 15:e1007957. [PMID: 31437249 PMCID: PMC6705770 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Human zinc deficiency increases susceptibility to bacterial infection. Although zinc supplementation therapies can reduce the impact of disease, the molecular basis for protection remains unclear. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of bacterial pneumonia, which is prevalent in regions of zinc deficiency. We report that dietary zinc levels dictate the outcome of S. pneumoniae infection in a murine model. Dietary zinc restriction impacts murine tissue zinc levels with distribution post-infection altered, and S. pneumoniae virulence and infection enhanced. Although the activation and infiltration of murine phagocytic cells was not affected by zinc restriction, their efficacy of bacterial control was compromised. S. pneumoniae was shown to be highly sensitive to zinc intoxication, with this process impaired in zinc restricted mice and isolated phagocytic cells. Collectively, these data show how dietary zinc deficiency increases sensitivity to S. pneumoniae infection while revealing a role for zinc as a component of host antimicrobial defences. Zinc deficiency affects one-third of the world’s population and is associated with an increased susceptibility to bacterial infection. Despite this, the molecular basis for how zinc deficiency compromises host control of infection remains to be understood. We show that dietary zinc deficiency impacts host tissue zinc abundances and its mobilization during infection by the major respiratory pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Zinc acts as a direct antimicrobial against the pathogen, mobilized by phagocytic cells as a component of the innate immune response. Although immune activation and infiltration of phagocytic cells is unaffected by host zinc status, the lack of antimicrobial zinc compromises bacterial control in zinc deficient hosts. These findings highlight the importance of zinc sufficiency in resisting bacterial infection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bart A Eijkelkamp
- Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Jacqueline R Morey
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Stephanie L Neville
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Aimee Tan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Victoria G Pederick
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Nerida Cole
- The Atomic Medicine Initiative, University of Technology, Broadway, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,ARC Training Centre in Biodevices, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
| | - Prashina P Singh
- The Atomic Medicine Initiative, University of Technology, Broadway, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Cheryl-Lynn Y Ong
- Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Raquel Gonzalez de Vega
- The Atomic Medicine Initiative, University of Technology, Broadway, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - David Clases
- The Atomic Medicine Initiative, University of Technology, Broadway, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Bliss A Cunningham
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Catherine E Hughes
- Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Iain Comerford
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Erin B Brazel
- Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Jonathan J Whittall
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Charles D Plumptre
- Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Shaun R McColl
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - James C Paton
- Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Alastair G McEwan
- Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Philip A Doble
- The Atomic Medicine Initiative, University of Technology, Broadway, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Christopher A McDevitt
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Michod RE, Bernstein H, Nedelcu AM. Adaptive value of sex in microbial pathogens. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2008; 8:267-85. [PMID: 18295550 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2008.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2007] [Revised: 12/30/2007] [Accepted: 01/02/2008] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Explaining the adaptive value of sex is one of the great outstanding problems in biology. The challenge comes from the difficulty in identifying the benefits provided by sex, which must outweigh the substantial costs of sex. Here, we consider the adaptive value of sex in viruses, bacteria and fungi, and particularly the information available on the adaptive role of sex in pathogenic microorganisms. Our general theme is that the varied aspects of sex in pathogens illustrate the varied issues surrounding the evolution of sex generally. These include, the benefits of sex (in the short- and long-term), as well as the costs of sex (both to the host and to the pathogen). For the benefits of sex (that is, its adaptive value), we consider three hypotheses: (i) sex provides for effective and efficient recombinational repair of DNA damages, (ii) sex provides DNA for food, and (iii) sex produces variation and reduces genetic associations among alleles under selection. Although the evolution of sex in microbial pathogens illustrates these general issues, our paper is not a general review of theories for the evolution of sex in all organisms. Rather, we focus on the adaptive value of sex in microbial pathogens and conclude that in terms of short-term benefits, the DNA repair hypothesis has the most support and is the most generally applicable hypothesis in this group. In particular, recombinational repair of DNA damages may substantially benefit pathogens when challenged by the oxidative defenses of the host. However, in the long-term, sex may help get rid of mutations, increase the rate of adaptation of the population, and, in pathogens, may infrequently create new infective strains. An additional general issue about sex illustrated by pathogens is that some of the most interesting consequences of sex are not necessarily the reasons for which sex evolved. For example, antibiotic resistance may be transferred by bacterial sex, but this transfer is probably not the reason sex evolved in bacteria.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Richard E Michod
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Simitsopoulou M, Gil-Lamaignere C, Avramidis N, Maloukou A, Lekkas S, Havlova E, Kourounaki L, Loebenberg D, Roilides E. Antifungal activities of posaconazole and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor ex vivo and in mice with disseminated infection due to Scedosporium prolificans. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2004; 48:3801-5. [PMID: 15388437 PMCID: PMC521885 DOI: 10.1128/aac.48.10.3801-3805.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Invasive infection due to Scedosporium prolificans is characterized by drug resistance and a high rate of mortality. The effects of posaconazole (POS), an investigational antifungal triazole, murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and their combination against S. prolificans were evaluated ex vivo and in a newly developed murine model of disseminated infection due to this organism. When POS was combined with polymorphonuclear leukocytes from untreated or GM-CSF-treated mice (P < 0.01) ex vivo, it had increased activity in terms of the percentage of hyphal damage. Immunocompetent BALB/c mice were infected with 4 x 10(4) conidia of S. prolificans via the lateral tail vein. At 24 h postinfection the mice were treated with GM-CSF (5 microg/kg of body weight/day subcutaneously), POS (50 mg/kg/day by gavage), both agents, or saline only. Half of the brain, lung, liver, and kidney from each animal were cultured; and the other half of each organ was processed for histopathology. The mean survival times were 7.0 +/- 0.3 days for the controls, 7.4 +/- 0.4 days for POS-treated mice, 8.0 +/- 0.3 days for GM-CSF-treated mice (P = 0.08 compared with the results for the controls), and 7.3 +/- 0.3 days for POS-GM-CSF-treated mice. Fungal burdens (determined as the numbers of CFU per gram of tissue) were found in descending orders of magnitude in the kidneys, brains, livers, and lungs. The burdens were significantly reduced in the brains of GM-CSF-treated mice (P < 0.05) and the livers of POS-treated mice (P < 0.05). The numbers of lesions in the organs closely corresponded to the fungal burdens. GM-CSF tended to prolong survival (P = 0.08 compared with the results for the controls). While the combination of POS and GM-CSF showed enhanced activity ex vivo, it did not increase the activities of the two agents against this highly refractory filamentous fungus in mice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Simitsopoulou
- 3rd Department of Pediatrics, Hippokration Hospital, 49 Konstantinoupoleos St., GR-546 42 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Al-Numani D, Segura M, Doré M, Gottschalk M. Up-regulation of ICAM-1, CD11a/CD18 and CD11c/CD18 on human THP-1 monocytes stimulated by Streptococcus suis serotype 2. Clin Exp Immunol 2003; 133:67-77. [PMID: 12823280 PMCID: PMC1808744 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2249.2003.02189.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus suis serotype 2 is known to be a major pathogen of swine, causing mainly meningitis. It is also a zoonotic agent leading predominantly to meningitis in humans working in close contact with pigs. In this study, we investigated the ability of S. suis to up-regulate the expression of adhesion molecules involved in inflammation, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. S. suis serotype 2 stimulated the up-regulation of the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1, CD54), CD11a/CD18 and CD11c/CD18 on human THP-1 monocytes, but did not change that of ICAM-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1, CD106) and E-selectin (CD62E) on human endothelial cells. The up-regulation of adhesion molecules was time- and bacterial concentration-dependent, and cell wall components were largely responsible for such stimulation. To a lesser extent, purified haemolysin of S. suis also stimulated adhesion molecule expression. Stimulation of monocytes with strains of different origin showed that there was no clear tendency for human strains to induce a higher expression of adhesion molecules than strains from diseased pigs. Finally, monocytes stimulated with S. suis also showed an increase in adherence to endothelial cells. Hence, S. suis is capable of up-regulating important adhesion molecules involved in inflammation, which may result in an increased leucocyte recruitment into sites of infection, thus providing a possible mechanism for some of the inflammatory features of meningitis caused by this pathogen.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- D Al-Numani
- Groupe de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses du Porc (GREMIP), Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|