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Shrestha A, Mehdizadeh Gohari I, Li J, Navarro M, Uzal FA, McClane BA. The biology and pathogenicity of Clostridium perfringens type F: a common human enteropathogen with a new(ish) name. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2024:e0014023. [PMID: 38864615 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00140-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
SUMMARYIn the 2018-revised Clostridium perfringens typing classification system, isolates carrying the enterotoxin (cpe) and alpha toxin genes but no other typing toxin genes are now designated as type F. Type F isolates cause food poisoning and nonfoodborne human gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, which most commonly involve type F isolates carrying, respectivefooly, a chromosomal or plasmid-borne cpe gene. Compared to spores of other C. perfringens isolates, spores of type F chromosomal cpe isolates often exhibit greater resistance to food environment stresses, likely facilitating their survival in improperly prepared or stored foods. Multiple factors contribute to this spore resistance phenotype, including the production of a variant small acid-soluble protein-4. The pathogenicity of type F isolates involves sporulation-dependent C. perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) production. C. perfringens sporulation is initiated by orphan histidine kinases and sporulation-associated sigma factors that drive cpe transcription. CPE-induced cytotoxicity starts when CPE binds to claudin receptors to form a small complex (which also includes nonreceptor claudins). Approximately six small complexes oligomerize on the host cell plasma membrane surface to form a prepore. CPE molecules in that prepore apparently extend β-hairpin loops to form a β-barrel pore, allowing a Ca2+ influx that activates calpain. With low-dose CPE treatment, caspase-3-dependent apoptosis develops, while high-CPE dose treatment induces necroptosis. Those effects cause histologic damage along with fluid and electrolyte losses from the colon and small intestine. Sialidases likely contribute to type F disease by enhancing CPE action and, for NanI-producing nonfoodborne human GI disease isolates, increasing intestinal growth and colonization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Archana Shrestha
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Iman Mehdizadeh Gohari
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jihong Li
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Mauricio Navarro
- Instituto de Patologia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Francisco A Uzal
- California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, San Bernardino, California, USA
| | - Bruce A McClane
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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Clostridial pore-forming toxins: Powerful virulence factors. Anaerobe 2014; 30:220-38. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2014.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2014] [Revised: 04/16/2014] [Accepted: 05/25/2014] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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3
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Trosvik P, Rudi K, Straetkvern KO, Jakobsen KS, Naes T, Stenseth NC. Web of ecological interactions in an experimental gut microbiota. Environ Microbiol 2011; 12:2677-87. [PMID: 20482738 DOI: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2010.02236.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The dynamics of all ecosystems are dictated by intrinsic, density-dependent mechanisms and by density-independent environmental forcing. In spite of the importance of the gastrointestinal microbiota in health and disease, the ecology of this system remains largely unknown. Here, we take an ecological approach to gut microbial community analysis, with statistical modelling of time series data from chemostats. This approach removes effects of host forcing, allowing us to describe a network of intrinsic interactions determining the dynamic structure of an experimental gut microbiota. Surprisingly, the main colonization pattern in this simplified model system resembled that of the human infant gut, suggesting a potentially important role of density-dependent interactions in the early gut microbiota. Knowledge of ecological structures in microbial systems may provide us with a means of controlling such systems by modifying the strength and nature of interactions among microbes and between the microbes and their environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pål Trosvik
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Oslo N-0316, Norway
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Abstract
Clostridia produce the highest number of toxins of any type of bacteria and are involved in severe diseases in humans and other animals. Most of the clostridial toxins are pore-forming toxins responsible for gangrenes and gastrointestinal diseases. Among them, perfringolysin has been extensively studied and it is the paradigm of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysins, whereas Clostridium perfringens epsilon-toxin and Clostridium septicum alpha-toxin, which are related to aerolysin, are the prototypes of clostridial toxins that form small pores. Other toxins active on the cell surface possess an enzymatic activity, such as phospholipase C and collagenase, and are involved in the degradation of specific cell-membrane or extracellular-matrix components. Three groups of clostridial toxins have the ability to enter cells: large clostridial glucosylating toxins, binary toxins and neurotoxins. The binary and large clostridial glucosylating toxins alter the actin cytoskeleton by enzymatically modifying the actin monomers and the regulatory proteins from the Rho family, respectively. Clostridial neurotoxins proteolyse key components of neuroexocytosis. Botulinum neurotoxins inhibit neurotransmission at neuromuscular junctions, whereas tetanus toxin targets the inhibitory interneurons of the CNS. The high potency of clostridial toxins results from their specific targets, which have an essential cellular function, and from the type of modification that they induce. In addition, clostridial toxins are useful pharmacological and biological tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel R Popoff
- Institut Pasteur, Bactéries Anaérobies et Toxines, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France.
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5
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Collier C, Hofacre C, Payne A, Anderson D, Kaiser P, Mackie R, Gaskins H. Coccidia-induced mucogenesis promotes the onset of necrotic enteritis by supporting Clostridium perfringens growth. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 2008; 122:104-15. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2007.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 204] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2007] [Revised: 10/12/2007] [Accepted: 10/23/2007] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Songer JG, Miskimmins DW. Clostridium perfringens type E enteritis in calves: two cases and a brief review of the literature. Anaerobe 2007; 10:239-42. [PMID: 16701523 PMCID: PMC7128854 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2004.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2004] [Accepted: 05/05/2004] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Toxigenic types of Clostridium perfringens are important causes of enteric disease in domestic animals, although type E is putatively rare, appearing as an uncommon cause of enterotoxemia of lambs, calves, and rabbits. We report here two geographically distinct cases of type E enterotoxemia in calves, and diagnostic findings which suggest that type E may play a significant role in enteritis of neonatal calves. The cases had many similarities, including a history of diarrhea and sudden death, abomasitis, and hemorrhagic enteritis. In both cases, anaerobic cultures of abomasum yielded heavy growth of C. perfringens genotype E. Four percent of > 1000 strains of C. perfringens from cases of enteritis in domestic animals were type E, and all (n=45) were from neonatal calves with hemorrhagic enteritis. Furthermore, type E isolates represented nearly 50% of all isolates submitted from similar clinical cases in calves. Commercial toxoids available in North America have no label claims for efficacy against type E infections. Consideration should be given to type E-associated enteritis when planning for the health care of calves.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Glenn Songer
- Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
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7
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Morris J, Harrison LM, Partridge SM. Practical and theoretical aspects of postmortem bacteriology. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cdip.2006.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Rooney AP, Swezey JL, Friedman R, Hecht DW, Maddox CW. Analysis of core housekeeping and virulence genes reveals cryptic lineages of Clostridium perfringens that are associated with distinct disease presentations. Genetics 2006; 172:2081-92. [PMID: 16489222 PMCID: PMC1456398 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.105.054601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens is an important human and animal pathogen that causes a number of diseases that vary in their etiology and severity. Differences between strains regarding toxin gene composition and toxin production partly explain why some strains cause radically different diseases than others. However, they do not provide a complete explanation. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a phylogenetic component that explains the variance in C. perfringens strain virulence by assessing patterns of genetic polymorphism in genes (colA gyrA, plc, pfoS, and rplL) that form part of the core genome in 248 type A strains. We found that purifying selection plays a central role in shaping the patterns of nucleotide substitution and polymorphism in both housekeeping and virulence genes. In contrast, recombination was found to be a significant factor only for the virulence genes plc and colA and the housekeeping gene gyrA. Finally, we found that the strains grouped into five distinct evolutionary lineages that show evidence of host adaptation and the early stages of speciation. The discovery of these previously unknown lineages and their association with distinct disease presentations carries important implications for human and veterinary clostridial disease epidemiology and provides important insights into the pathways through which virulence has evolved in C. perfringens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro P Rooney
- Microbial Genomics Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, U.S. Department of Agriculture--Agricultural Research Service, Peoria, Illinois 61604, USA.
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Wrigley DM. Inhibition of Clostridium perfringens sporulation by Bacteroides fragilis and short-chain fatty acids. Anaerobe 2004; 10:295-300. [PMID: 16701530 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2004.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2003] [Revised: 11/04/2003] [Accepted: 05/28/2004] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
The effect a common fecal organism, Bacteroides fragilis, has on the sporulation of Clostridium perfringens, an organism linked to some cases of antibiotic associated diarrhea, was examined. Established B. fragilis cultures significantly decreased the number of heat resistant spores formed by C. perfringens ATCC 12915 and increased the number of vegetative cells. To determine if short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), fermentation products of B. fragilis, inhibited sporulation, the SCFA were added to sporulation broth. Sporulation decreased in the presence of acetate, isobutyrate, isovalerate, and succinate. Vegetative cell number for C. perfringens decreased in the cultures with isobutyrate. Propionate did not affect sporulation or vegetative cell number. The data support the hypothesis that the decrease in short-chain fatty acid concentration following antibiotic therapy predisposes patients to diarrheas caused by C. perfringens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothy M Wrigley
- Department of Biological Sciences, Minnesota State University, 242 South Trafton Science Center, Mankato, MN 56001, USA.
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10
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Novak JS, Tunick MH, Juneja VK. Heat treatment adaptations in Clostridium perfringens vegetative cells. J Food Prot 2001; 64:1527-34. [PMID: 11601701 DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-64.10.1527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Vegetative cells of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxigenic strains NCTC 8679, NCTC 8238. and H6 were grown at 37 degrees C followed by a 60-min exposure to 28 degrees C or 46 degrees C. D10-values, as a measure of thermal resistance at 60 degrees C, were significantly lower for 28 degrees C exposures as compared with cultures given 37 and 46 degrees C exposures. Following refrigeration at 4 degrees C for 24 h, D10-values for the 37 and 46 degrees C samples could not be differentiated from 28 degrees C samples. Western immunoblot analyses of lysates from heat-adapted cells also detected the increased expression of proteins reacting with antiserum directed against the molecular chaperonins from Escherichia coli; GroEL, DnaJ, and the small acid soluble protein from Bacillus subtilis, SspC. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) identified thermal transitions corresponding to ribosomal protein denaturations at 72.1 +/- 0.5 degrees C. Any cellular heat adaptations in the DSC profiles were lost following refrigeration for several days to simulate minimally processed food storage conditions. Further analyses of high-speed pellets from crude cell extract fractions using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis detected the differential gene expression of at least four major proteins in heat-adapted vegetative cells of C. perfringens. N-terminal amino acid analyses identified two of the proteins as glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and rubrerythrin. Both appear to have roles in this anaerobe under stressful conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- J S Novak
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania 19038, USA.
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Weese JS, Staempfli HR, Prescott JF, Kruth SA, Greenwood SJ, Weese HE. The Roles ofClostridium difficileand EnterotoxigenicClostridium perfringensin Diarrhea in Dogs. J Vet Intern Med 2001. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2001.tb02332.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
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Abstract
Bacterial infection with Clostridium perfringens in children less than 2 years of age is frequently associated with meningitis, necrotizing gastrointestinal infection, and postoperative infections. However, a review of the literature reveals no reports of these bacteria infecting the tonsils. A 9-month old black female was found unresponsive at the baby-sitter's and was rushed to the hospital. Shortly after admission to the emergency department death was pronounced. An autopsy performed on this otherwise healthy infant revealed shock and acute necrotizing bacterial tonsillitis. The initial report of this infant's death was questionable sudden infant death syndrome and questionable smothering. Postmortem cerebrospinal fluid, blood, and lung cultures grew pure colonies of C. perfringens. The necrotizing tonsil revealed no significant gross lesions. Microscopically, large numbers of gram-positive rods were easily recognized and were compatible with C. perfringens. Because the oropharynx is a common portal of entry for infectious agents, it is essential to sample tissues of Waldeyer's ring and especially the tonsils to find infectious diseases that may become systemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E Gerber
- Forensic Medical, Metropolitan Davidson County, Nashville, Tennessee 37210, USA
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Moxley RA, Duhamel GE. Comparative pathology of bacterial enteric diseases of swine. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2000; 473:83-101. [PMID: 10659346 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4615-4143-1_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Enteric bacterial infections are among the most common and economically significant diseases affecting swine production worldwide. Clinical signs of these infections include diarrhea, reduced growth rate, weight loss, and death of preweaned, weanling, grower-finisher, young and adult age breeding animals. The most common etiological agents include Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, Lawsonia intracellularis, Salmonella enterica, and Brachyspira (Serpulina) spp. With the exception of Brachyspira (Serpulina) hyodysenteriae, the cause of swine dysentery, and Lawsonia intracellularis, the cause of proliferative enteropathy, the pathological changes seen with these agents closely resemble the diseases occurring in human beings. Histological changes in the intestines of swine with enteric bacterial infections include bacterial colonization without significant damage (e.g., certain enterotoxigenic E. coli and C. perfringens type A), attaching and effacing lesions with enteropathogenic E. coli and Brachyspira pilosicoli, the cause of colonic spirochetosis, inflammation with S. enterica, and necrotizing and hemorrhagic lesions with certain C. perfringens. Extraintestinal spread of bacteria and/or toxins occurs with some serotypes of E. coli and most serotypes of S. enterica. Enteric bacterial diseases of swine have been used as models to study the pathogenesis of similar diseases of human beings. Several of these pathogens are also important causes of food-borne disease in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- R A Moxley
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 68583-0905, USA
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14
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Abstract
Toxins are increasingly being used as valuable tools for analysis of cellular physiology, and some are used medicinally for treatment of human diseases. In particular, botulinum toxin, the most poisonous biological substance known, is used for treatment of a myriad of human neuromuscular disorders characterized by involuntary muscle contractions. Since approval of type-A botulinum toxin by the US Food and Drug Administration in December 1989 for three disorders (strabismus, blepharospasm, and hemifacial spasm), the number of indications being treated has increased greatly to include numerous focal dystonias, spasticity, tremors, cosmetic applications, migraine and tension headaches, and other maladies. Many of these diseases were previously refractory to pharmacological and surgical treatments. The remarkable therapeutic utility of botulinum toxin lies in its ability to specifically and potently inhibit involuntary muscle activity for an extended duration. The clostridia produce more protein toxins than any other bacterial genus and are a rich reservoir of toxins for research and medicinal uses. Research is underway to use clostridial toxins or toxin domains for drug delivery, prevention of food poisoning, and the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The remarkable success of botulinum toxin as a therapeutic agent has created a new field of investigation in microbiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- E A Johnson
- Department of Food Microbiology and Toxicology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA.
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Gordon AE, Saadi AT, MacKenzie DA, Molony N, James VS, Weir DM, Busuttil A, Blackwell CC. The protective effect of breast feeding in relation to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): III. Detection of IgA antibodies in human milk that bind to bacterial toxins implicated in SIDS. FEMS IMMUNOLOGY AND MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY 1999; 25:175-82. [PMID: 10443506 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-695x.1999.tb01341.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Two toxin-producing bacteria implicated in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium perfringens. Epidemiological studies have shown that breast feeding reduces an infant's risk of SIDS. This protective effect could be due partly to IgA antibodies to these toxins in human milk. The aim of this work was to use a quantitative ELISA to determine levels of IgA antibodies that bound to toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1), staphylococcal enterotoxin C (SEC) and C. perfringens enterotoxin A (CEA) in individual samples of human milk. All samples of milk tested contained IgA antibodies that bound to the bacterial toxins. For individual samples, IgA bound to TSST-1, SEC and CEA were in the range of 900-3100 ng ml(-1), 1000-3600 ng ml(-1) and 1000-4300 ng ml(-1) respectively. Isolation of S. aureus from mothers donating breast milk samples was used to determine if the presence of bacteria affected IgA levels which bound TSST-1 and SEC. For 3/5 samples with levels above the upper limit of the standard deviation (2375 ng ml(-1)) for IgA bound to TSST-1, S. aureus was isolated from the mother whilst 4/5 samples found to contain levels above the upper limit of the standard deviation (2627 ng ml(-1)) for IgA bound to SEC, had S. aureus isolated from the mother. In conclusion, if bacterial toxins do play a role in precipitating a SIDS death, the presence of IgA antibodies to toxins in breast milk, but not in infant formula, might contribute to the protective effect of breast feeding in relation to SIDS.
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Affiliation(s)
- A E Gordon
- Department of Medical Microbiology, The Medical School, University of Edinburgh, UK.
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Gordon AE, Saadi AT, MacKenzie DA, James VS, Elton RA, Weir DM, Busuttil A, Blackwell CC. The protective effect of breast feeding in relation to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): II. The effect of human milk and infant formula preparations on binding of Clostridium perfringens to epithelial cells. FEMS IMMUNOLOGY AND MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY 1999; 25:167-73. [PMID: 10443505 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-695x.1999.tb01340.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Breast feeding is known to protect an infant against gastrointestinal pathogens and epidemiological studies indicate that compared to breast fed infants, formula fed infants are at a greater risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Many SIDS infants have symptoms of gastrointestinal infections prior to death and one gastrointestinal pathogen associated with SIDS is Clostridium perfringens. Studies have found that a significantly higher number of formula fed SIDS infants have C perfringens and its enterotoxin in their faeces compared to breast fed infants. The aim of the study was to compare the effects of human milk and infant formula on binding of C perfringens to epithelial cells. Two protocols were used to assess the effect of human milk and infant formula to inhibit binding of C perfringens to epithelial cells. Binding was assessed by flow cytometry. For the in vivo protocol which more closely represents interactions on the mucosal surface, breast milk enhanced bacterial binding but infant formula caused inhibition of binding; however for the in vitro method, both human milk and infant formula resulted in consistent enhancement of binding. Flow cytometry studies indicated that enhancement of binding was due to the formation of bacterial aggregates. Lewis(a) and Lewis(b) antigens, found in both breast milk and infant formula, inhibited C. perfringens binding in a dose dependent manner. The Lewis(a) and Lewis(b) antigens in human milk and infant formula can inhibit C. perfringens binding to epithelial cells. While infant formula reduced binding of C. perfringens to epithelial cells in the experiments carried out with the in vivo protocol, the protective effects of breast feeding in relation to colonisation with C. perfringens are more likely to be due to formation of bacterial aggregates. These findings have implications for improving infant formula preparations.
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Affiliation(s)
- A E Gordon
- Department of Medical Microbiology, The Medical School, University of Edinburgh, UK
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Billington SJ, Wieckowski EU, Sarker MR, Bueschel D, Songer JG, McClane BA. Clostridium perfringens type E animal enteritis isolates with highly conserved, silent enterotoxin gene sequences. Infect Immun 1998; 66:4531-6. [PMID: 9712814 PMCID: PMC108552 DOI: 10.1128/iai.66.9.4531-4536.1998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/1998] [Accepted: 06/26/1998] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Several Clostridium perfringens genotype E isolates, all associated with hemorrhagic enteritis of neonatal calves, were identified by multiplex PCR. These genotype E isolates were demonstrated to express alpha and iota toxins, but, despite carrying sequences for the gene (cpe) encoding C. perfringens enterotoxin (CPE), were unable to express CPE. These silent cpe sequences were shown to be highly conserved among type E isolates. However, relative to the functional cpe gene of type A isolates, these silent type E cpe sequences were found to contain nine nonsense and two frameshift mutations and to lack the initiation codon, promoters, and ribosome binding site. The type E animal enteritis isolates carrying these silent cpe sequences do not appear to be clonally related, and their silent type E cpe sequences are always located, near the iota toxin genes, on episomal DNA. These findings suggest that the highly conserved, silent cpe sequences present in most or all type E isolates may have resulted from the recent horizontal transfer of an episome, which also carries iota toxin genes, to several different type A C. perfringens isolates.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Billington
- Department of Veterinary Science and Microbiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
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