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Rocha BZLL, Portilho FVR, Garino Júnior F, Monti FDS, de Almeida BO, de Souza AAL, Morizane Y, Sakaizawa N, Suzuki Y, Kakuda T, Takai S, de Farias MR, Ribeiro MG. Cellulitis-related Rhodococcus equi in a cat harboring VAPA-type plasmid pattern. Microb Pathog 2021; 160:105186. [PMID: 34509529 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2021.105186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Rhodococcus equi is a well-known intracellular facultative bacterium that is opportunistic in nature, and a contagious disease-causing agent of pyogranulomatous infections in humans and multihost animals. Feline rhodococcosis is an uncommon or unnoticed clinical condition, in which the organism is usually refractory to conventional antimicrobial therapy. The pathogenicity of the agent is intimately associated with plasmid-governed infectivity, which is attributed to the presence of plasmid-encoded virulence-associated proteins (Vap). Three host-adapted virulence plasmid types (VAPs) have been distinguished to date: pVAPA, pVAPB, and pVAPN, whose infections are related to equine, pig, and bovine or caprine origin, respectively, while humans are infected by all three VAP types. Most virulence studies with R. equi plasmid types in animals involve livestock species. Conversely, data on the pathogenicity and human relevance of the virulence plasmid profile of R. equi isolated from cats remains unclear. This report describes a case of cellulitis-related R. equi that harbors the pVAPA-type in a cat with cutaneous lesion. Long-term therapy of the cat using marbofloxacin, a broad-spectrum third-generation fluoroquinolone, resulted effectiveness. pVAPA is a host-adapted virulent type that has been associated predominantly with pulmonary foal infections. Our cat had a history of contact with other cats, livestock (including horses), and farm environment that could have favored the transmission of the pathogen. Besides no clear evidence of cat-to-humans transmission of the pathogen, the identification of R. equi harboring pVAPA-type in a cat with cutaneous abscessed lesion represent relevance in human health because this virulent type has been described in people worldwide with clinical rhodococcal disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fábio Vinícius Ramos Portilho
- UNESP-São Paulo State University, Department of Animal Production and Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
| | | | - Fabiana Dos Santos Monti
- Graduate Program in Animal Science, School of Life Sciences, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná - PUCPR, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
| | - Beatriz Oliveira de Almeida
- UNESP-São Paulo State University, Department of Animal Production and Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
| | | | - Yuri Morizane
- Kitasato University, Department of Animal Hygiene, Towada, Aomori, Japan.
| | - Naho Sakaizawa
- Kitasato University, Department of Animal Hygiene, Towada, Aomori, Japan.
| | - Yasunori Suzuki
- Kitasato University, Department of Animal Hygiene, Towada, Aomori, Japan.
| | - Tsutomu Kakuda
- Kitasato University, Department of Animal Hygiene, Towada, Aomori, Japan.
| | - Shinji Takai
- Kitasato University, Department of Animal Hygiene, Towada, Aomori, Japan.
| | - Marconi Rodrigues de Farias
- Graduate Program in Animal Science, School of Life Sciences, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná - PUCPR, Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
| | - Márcio Garcia Ribeiro
- UNESP-São Paulo State University, Department of Animal Production and Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
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Salazar-Rodríguez D, Aleaga-Santiesteban Y, Iglesias E, Plascencia-Hernández A, Pérez-Gómez HR, Calderón EJ, Vázquez-Boland JA, de Armas Y. Virulence Plasmids of Rhodococcus equi Isolates From Cuban Patients With AIDS. Front Vet Sci 2021; 8:628239. [PMID: 33718470 PMCID: PMC7947234 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.628239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhodococcus equi is an animal pathogen and zoonotic human opportunistic pathogen associated with immunosuppressive conditions. The pathogenicity of R. equi is linked to three animal host-associated virulence plasmids encoding a family of “Virulence Associated Proteins” (VAPs). Here, the PCR-based TRAVAP molecular typing system for the R. equi virulence plasmids was applied to 26 R. equi strains isolated between 2010 and 2016 at the Institute of Tropical Medicine “Pedro Kourí,” Cuba, from individuals living with HIV/AIDS. TRAVAP detects 4 gene markers, traA common to the three virulence plasmids, and vapA, vapB, and vapN specific to each of the host-associated plasmid types (equine pVAPA, porcine pVAPB, and ruminant pVAPN). Of the 26 isolates, six were positive to the vapB (porcine-type) marker, 4 (15.4%) to the vapA (equine-type) marker, and 1 (3.8%) to the vapN (ruminant-type) marker. Most of the isolates 14 (53.8%) were negative to all TRAVAP markers, suggesting they lacked a virulence plasmid. To our knowledge, this work is the first to report the molecular characterization of R. equi isolates from Cuba. Our findings provide insight into the zoonotic origin of R. equi infections in people and the potential dispensability of the virulence plasmid in immunosuppressed patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Salazar-Rodríguez
- Department of Clinical Microbiology Diagnostic, Hospital Center of Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí," Havana, Cuba
| | - Yamilé Aleaga-Santiesteban
- Department of Clinical Microbiology Diagnostic, Hospital Center of Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí," Havana, Cuba
| | - Enrique Iglesias
- Departamento de Vacunas, Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología, Havana, Cuba
| | | | - Héctor R Pérez-Gómez
- Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
| | - Enrique J Calderón
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad de Sevilla, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Seville, Spain
| | - José A Vázquez-Boland
- Microbial Pathogenesis Group, Edinburgh Medical School (Biomedical Sciences - Infection Medicine), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Yaxsier de Armas
- Department of Clinical Microbiology Diagnostic, Hospital Center of Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí," Havana, Cuba.,Pathology Department, Hospital Center of Institute of Tropical Medicine "Pedro Kourí," Havana, Cuba
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Takai S, Sawada N, Nakayama Y, Ishizuka S, Nakagawa R, Kawashima G, Sangkanjanavanich N, Sasaki Y, Kakuda T, Suzuki Y. Reinvestigation of the virulence of Rhodococcus equi isolates from patients with and without AIDS. Lett Appl Microbiol 2020; 71:679-683. [PMID: 32920889 DOI: 10.1111/lam.13386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2020] [Revised: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rhodococcus equi emerged as a zoonotic pathogen of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients over the last three decades. Two virulence plasmid types of R. equi, pVAPA and pVAPB associated with equine and porcine isolates, have been recognized, and more recently, pVAPN, a novel host-associated virulence plasmid in R. equi, was found in bovine and caprine isolates. We reinvestigated 39 previously reported isolates of R. equi from patients with and without acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) by detecting vapA, vapB and vapN using PCR and plasmid profiling. After excluding one isolate that could not be cultured from frozen storage, eight isolates carried a virulence plasmid encoding vapA (pVAPA), 10 carried a virulence plasmid encoding vapB (pVAPB), seven carried a virulence plasmid encoding vapN (pVAPN) and 13 were negative for those genes. Of the 29 isolates from patients with AIDS, 7, 10 and 5 harboured pVAPA, pVAPB and pVAPN respectively. Among nine isolates from patients without AIDS, one and two harboured pVAPA and pVAPN respectively. This study demonstrated that pVAPN-positive R. equi existed in human isolates before 1994 and reaffirmed that equine-associated pVAPA-positive, porcine-associated pVAPB-positive and bovine- or caprine-associated pVAPN-positive R. equi are widely spread globally. Because domestic animals might be major sources of human infection, further research is needed to reveal the prevalence of pVAPN-positive R. equi infection in cattle and goats.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Takai
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - N Sawada
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - Y Nakayama
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - S Ishizuka
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - R Nakagawa
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - G Kawashima
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - N Sangkanjanavanich
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan.,Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Y Sasaki
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - T Kakuda
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
| | - Y Suzuki
- Laboratory of Animal Hygiene, Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Aomori, Japan
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