| 1. |
- Berglund, Björn, 1983-
(författare)
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Deliberations on the impact of antibiotic contamination on dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The great success of antibiotics in treating bacterial infectious diseases has been hampered by the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Not only does antibiotic resistance threaten to increase the difficulty in treating bacterial infectious diseases, but it could also make medical procedures such as routine surgery and organ transplantations very dangerous to perform. Traditionally, antibiotic resistance has been regarded as a strictly clinical problem and studies of the problem have mostly been restricted to a clinical milieu. Recently, non-clinical environments, and in particular aquatic environments, have been recognised as important factors in development and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Elevated concentrations of antibiotics in an environment are likely to drive a selection pressure which favours resistant bacteria, and are also believed to promote horizontal gene transfer among the indigenous bacteria. Antibiotic resistance genes are often located on mobile genetic elements such as plasmids and integrons, which have the ability to disseminate among taxonomically unrelated species. The environmental bacteria can thus serve as both reservoirs for resistance and hot spots for the development of new antibiotic resistance determinants.There is still a lack of data pertaining to how high antibiotic concentrations are necessary to drive a selection pressure in aquatic environments. The aim of this thesis is to determine the effect of high and low concentrations of antibiotics on environmental bacterial communities from different aquatic environments. In the studies performed, antibiotics were measured using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Bacterial diversity and evenness were assessed using molecular fingerprints obtained with 16S rRNA gene-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and antibiotic resistance genes and class 1 integrons were quantified using real-time PCR.Water and sediment samples were collected from different rivers and canals in Pakistan. The environments differed in anthropogenic exposure from undisturbed to heavily contaminated. A general trend could be observed of high concentrations of antibiotics correlating to elevated concentrations of antibiotic resistance genes and integrons. Extremely high concentrations of antibiotic resistance genes and integrons were found in the sediments downstream of an industrial drug formulation site, which likely correlated to the high load of antibiotics found in the water. Antibiotic and antibiotic resistance gene concentrations were also shown to increase downstream of Ravi river, which flows through Lahore, a city of more than 10 million inhabitants. Rivers not impacted by anthropogenic contamination were found to contain antibiotics and resistance gene concentrations of similar levels as in Europe and the U.S. Similar measurements were performed in the Swedish river Stångån. The concentrations of antibiotic resistance genes and class 1 integrons were shown to increase in the river after it had passed, and received urban wastewater effluent from the city of Linköping.A series of constructed wetlands were exposed to a mixture of different antibiotics at environmentally relevant concentrations over a few weeks. The antibiotic exposure did not observably affect the bacterial diversity or integron concentrations. Antibiotic resistance genes were found at low background concentrations, but the antibiotic exposure did not observably affect the concentrations. The constructed wetlands were also found to reduce most antibiotics at levels comparable to conventional wastewater treatment schemes, suggesting that constructed wetlands may be useful supplementary alternatives to conventional wastewater treatment.To investigate the effect of antibiotics on an uncontaminated aquatic environment in a more controlled setting, microcosms were constructed from lake water and sediments and subsequently exposed to varying concentrations of antibiotics (ranging from wastewater-like concentrations to 1,000 times higher). The water and sediments were gathered from the lake Nydalasjön, near Umeå, which is not exposed to urban waste. While antibiotic resistance genes and class 1 integrons were found in the lake sediments, no increase in the concentrations of these genes could be observed due to the antibiotic additions.In conclusion, although antibiotic resistance genes and integrons are part of the environmental gene pool, low concentrations of antibiotics do not seem to immediately impact their prevalence. However, aquatic environments exposed to anthropogenic waste do exhibit elevated levels of antibiotic resistance genes and integrons. Aquatic environments heavily polluted with antibiotics also clearly display correspondingly high concentrations of antibiotic resistance genes and integrons. These results clearly indicate the necessity to keep down pollution levels as well as the need to establish the range of antibiotic concentrations which do promote resistance. This must be done in order to enable risk assessments and to establish acceptable levels of antibiotic pollution. It should also be stressed that more research is required to elucidate what effect low levels of antibiotic exposure has on environmental bacterial communities.
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| 2. |
- Fryland, Linda
(författare)
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Immune mechanisms in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection in relation to clinical outcome
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. The infection is caused by spirochaetes from the Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) group. The clinical outcome after B. burgdorferi s.l. infection differs between individuals from asymptomatic infection without history of LB to individuals who experience persistent symptoms post-treatment for more than six months after treatment. The difference in clinical outcome is not thought to be associated with persistent infection, but could instead be affected by the host’s ability to mount an optimal immune response to the spirochaete.The hypothesis of this thesis was that a strong inflammatory Th1-like immune response is required in the early stage of infection in order to achieve both an optimal eradication of the B. burgdorferi s.l. bacteria and a good clinical outcome. The inflammatory response must be down-regulated by an anti-inflammatory response in order to avoid excessive immune responses that will end in tissue injury. The proper down-regulation will also protect against development of a chronic Th1-like inflammatory response, with activated cytotoxic cells, which may lead to LB with persistent symptoms post-treatment.The thesis aimed to investigate the immunological mechanisms behind the optimal resolution of human B. burgdorferi s.l. infection and to define the aberrant mechanisms leading to development of persisting symptoms.prospective study on newly tick-bitten individuals showed that although 25% of the collected ticks were infected with B. burgdorferi s.l. very few individuals bitten by infected ticks developed LB (3.7%). In addition, 4.9% of the individuals bitten by infected ticks developed asymptomatic infection, i.e. B. burgdorferi s.l.-specific antibody seroconversion without LB. Approximately one third of all tick-bitten study subjects reported self-experienced symptoms possibly associated with LB. Individuals bitten by infected ticks were more likely to report experience of symptoms than those bitten by uninfected ticks. Thus, only 8.6% of the individuals bitten by B. burgdorferi s.l.-infected ticks were infected, verified by seroconversion, and out of them 57% were asymptomatic.A prospective study on EM patients showed that a good clinical outcome was associated with a strong early Th1 immune response since EM patients with persistent symptoms six months after treatment had reduced expression of Th1 cytokines in their EM lesions compared with EM patients without symptoms.The investigation of blood samples from newly tick-bitten individuals, for detection of possible early immune biomarkers indicating good clinical outcome of LB, showed that none of the investigated markers clearly discriminated between the individuals who developed LB, asymptomatic individuals, or non-infected individuals. However, tick-bitten individuals who developed asymptomatic infection showed an increase of early Th1-associated biomarkers in blood compared to individuals who developed clinical LB.In an experimental study, Th2-immune-deviated mice had more pronounced clinical signs of infection and could not eradicate the spirochaete as efficiently as non-deviated B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.)-infected mice. Non-deviated B. burgdorferi s.s.-infected mice showed a decrease of mRNA expression associated with Th2, anti-inflammatory and Treg/Th1 responses during the course of infection, which suggested a termination of the inflammatory response – something that was not seen in the immune-deviated mice. Trends for increased expression of pro-inflammatory GM-CSF and Treg marker Foxp3 in immune-deviated mice suggested on-going inflammation. Non-deviated B. burgdorferi s.s.-infected mice showed increased systemic expression of the Th1-associated CXCL9 and CXCL10 during the course of infection, while immune-deviated mice showed an initial decrease in both chemokines at day 15 p.i. compared with day 0 p.i.In conclusion, the risk of developing LB after a tick bite is low, and no infection or asymptomatic infection are the most common outcomes after a tick bite. The early immune response in humans and the immune response towards B. burgdorferi s.s. infection in mice support the hypothesis that a strong pro-inflammatory Th1 response is needed for an optimal clinical outcome and eradication of bacteria.
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| 3. |
- Lindblom, Pontus, 1982-
(författare)
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Epidemiological and Ecological Studies of Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ticks are blood-sucking parasites that are an inconvenience for both humans and animals. The tick by itself is normally harmless unless they attack in excessive numbers. The harm from ticks stems from them being excellent vectors for other parasites, in the form of bacteria and virus that via the ticks are provided a bridge to move across the blood streams of different animals, including humans.One of the most pathogenic tick-borne disease for humans is caused by a flavivirus, the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Each year approximately 10 000 individuals on the Eurasian continent develop neurological disease, in the form of meningitis, encephalitis, myelitis and radiculitis, following a bite by a TBEV infected tick.To evaluate the risk of TBEV infection after a tick-bite, we have developed a study to investigate ticks that have bitten humans and to follow up the tick-bitten humans to investigate if they get infected, and if they develop symptoms, and further trace the virus back to the tick that is infected with TBEV. Ticks, blood samples, and questionnaires were collected in collaboration with 34 primary health care centers in Sweden and on the Åland Islands during 2008 and 2009.Several demographical and biological factors were investigated regarding the interaction between ticks and humans. The main finding was that men removed the ticks later than women, and that both older men and older women removed the ticks later than younger individuals. This could in part explain why older individuals in general, and men in particular, are at greater risk of acquiring tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).Furthermore, the prevalence of TBEV in ticks that have bitten humans were investigated, in order to correlate the copy number of TBEV in the tick and the tick feeding-time to the risk of developing symptomatic and asymptomatic infection. This entailed the development of new methodology for tick analysis and TBEV real-time PCR. The result showed a very low risk of TBEV infection in the studied areas, only 5 of 2167 investigated ticks contained TBEV. Three of the individuals bitten by TBEV infected ticks were vaccinated and did not develop symptoms of TBEV infection. One unvaccinated individual got bitten by a tick containing 1800 virus copies, with a feeding-time of 12-24h, and interestingly showed no signs of infection. Another unvaccinated individual got bitten by a tick containing 7.7 million virus copies, with a feedingtime of >60h. This individual developed symptoms consistent with a 1st phase of TBE, including fever and headache, but did not develop the 2nd neurological phase of TBEV infection. Despite only finding 5 ticks infected with TBEV, a correlation between the virus load in the tick and the tick feeding-time was observed. In 2 other individuals, TBEV antibody seroconversion was detected during the 3 month study period, one without symptoms, while the other experienced symptoms consistent with the 1st phase of TBE. These observations support the hypothesis that a higher virus amount in the tick and a longer feeding time increases the risk of TBEV infection.To further examine TBEV in ticks that have bitten humans and find factors that may predict the risk of human infection and development of TBE, we characterized several TBEV strains genetically. Including TBEV strains isolated from ticks that have bitten human, from questing field-collected ticks, and TBEV strains isolated from patients with TBE. In one of the ticks detached from a human after >60h of feeding, there was a heterogeneous population of TBEV quasispecies with varying poly(A) length in the 3’ untranslated region of the genome was observed. These variations might have implications for differences in virulence between TBEV strains, and the heterogeneous quasispecies population observed could be the virus adapting from replication in tick cells to mammalian cells.We also investigated the response to TBEV vaccination in relation to 14 health-related factors in a population of older individuals on the Åland Islands. Blood samples, questionnaires, and vaccination records were collected from 533 individuals. Three different serological assays to characterize antibody response to TBEV vaccination were used. The main finding was that the number of vaccine doses in relation to age was the most important factor determining successful vaccination. The response to each vaccination dose declined linearly with age, and as much as 47% of individuals 50 years or older that had taken 3 vaccine doses were seronegative, compared to 23% that had taken 4 doses and 6% with 5 doses. Comparison between the serological assays revealed that the cutoffs determining the balance between sensitivity and specificity differed, but not the overall accuracy.Taken together, these results contribute to a better understanding of the TBEV epidemiology and can provide tools in the prevention of TBE.
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| 4. |
- Stark, Lisa
(författare)
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Staphylococcus aureus : aspects of pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Staphylococcus aureus is a human commensal colonizing about 30 per cent of the population. Besides, it is a frequent cause of infections such as skin, wound and deep tissue infections and also more life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, endocarditis and septicaemia. S. aureus may also cause different toxicoses. Moreover, this bacterium is one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections worldwide and an increase in antibiotic resistance, especially against methicillin, is seen. This underlines the importance to prevent and control outbreaks of S. aureus. The aims of this thesis were to increase the knowledge of S. aureus virulence and pathogenesis as well as to understand pattern of colonization and transmission.Various virulence factors operate together in the pathogenic process of S. aureus. The virulence of S. aureus was studied by the interaction with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) as a model. In paper I, we found that one bacterial isolate survived intracellularly and that 156 genes were differentially regulated in microarray analysis of HUVEC. The major part of these genes coded for proteins involved in innate immunity. In paper II, we wanted to explore possible differences in global gene expression patterns in HUVEC induced by invasive compared to colonizing isolates of S. aureus. We also used microarray to investigate possible differences in the presence of virulence genes between the two groups. The main finding was that virulent and commensal S. aureus did not differ in interaction with HUVEC and in the presence of virulence genes. All isolates survived intracellularly for days.Since no obvious differences in virulence between the two groups of isolates were found, we focused on epidemiology and transmission patterns. Colonization with S. aureus is an important risk factor for subsequent S. aureus infection. In paper III, we investigated S. aureus colonization and transmission among nursing home residents in three regions in the south of Sweden and used staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing as an epidemiological tool. A diverse distribution of different spa types was found and a majority of types were unique to one individual. Interestingly, we found a local accumulation of one spa type in one nursing home. Also common spa types were equally distributed in the different regions. We also noted that some individuals were colonized with two different spa types of S. aureus and in five of these cases there was one resistant and one non-resistant strain.The issue of multiclonal colonization and infection is highly important and clinical diagnostic laboratories do not routinely address this problem. Therefore, in paper IV a novel method to assess multiclonality of S. aureus was developed. It was based on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis with the amplification of the spa gene. The method simultaneously separated eight different spa types. It also detected two spa types in an outbreak.In conclusion, we found no differences in virulence genes and in the interaction with HUVEC between commensal and invasive isolates. This indicates that any isolate of S. aureus might have a pathogenic potential. We also confirmed that some spa types are more successful colonizers with a potential to nosocomial spread. The method for detection of multiclonality of S. aureus is of importance in future epidemiological and clinical studies.
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| 5. |
- Wilhelmsson, Peter
(författare)
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A STING from a Tick : Epidemiology, Ecology and Clinical Aspects of Lyme Borreliosis
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of LB cases is increasing. The infection is caused by spirochetes belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, and is, in Europe, transmitted to humans by Ixodes ricinus ticks.To gain a deeper knowledge of the interactions between ticks, humans and Borrelia bacteria, we investigated temporal differences in exposure to tick bites in different parts of Sweden and the Åland Islands, Finland during the years 2008 and 2009. We also investigated the site of tick attachment on the human body and the time it takes for a person to detected and remove such ticks. Furthermore, the distribution of Borrelia species and the number of Borrelia cells in the ticks were investigated. Sera taken from the tick-bitten persons at study inclusion were analyzed for the presence of Borrelia antibodies. Three months later, the clinical outcome and the serological response of the tick-bitten persons were investigated. A total of 2154 I. ricinus ticks and 1546 participants were included in the studies.Participants were exposed to tick bites between April and November, but temporal and spatial differences in exposure to ticks was found. The majority of the tick bites were caused by nymphs (70%) and most tick bites took place on the legs (50%). The site of tick attachment on the body as well as the age and gender of the participant influenced how soon a tick was detected. The majority of participants removed “their” ticks later than 24 hours of attachment. Of all ticks, 26% was Borrelia-infected, but the prevalence varied between the life stages of the tick and between the studied areas. Six species of the B. burgdorferi sensu lato complex and one Borrelia species that may cause tick-borne relapsing fever were detected. Adult ticks that had fed more than 36 hours contained a lower number of Borrelia cells than adult ticks that had fed less than 36 hours. The seroprevalence among the participants varied between genders as well as between the studied areas. Of all participants, 2% was diagnosed with LB and 2.5% seroconverted without an LB diagnose. A correlation between seroconversion and duration time of tick attachment was found, but the number of Borrelia cells in the tick, did not explain the risk of infection for the bitten person.A deeper knowledge and a better understanding of the interactions between ticks, humans and Borrelia bacteria may contribute reducing the risk for tick bites and the risk of developing LB after a tick bite.
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