| 1. |
- Herrmann, Björn, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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SNP-based high-resolution typing of Chlamydia psittaci from humans and wild birds in Sweden : circulation of the Mat116 genotype reveals the transmission mode to humans
- 2024
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Ingår i: Microbes and infection. - : Elsevier. - 1286-4579 .- 1769-714X. ; 26:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The incidence of Chlamydia psittaci respiratory tract infections in humans has increased in Sweden in recent years. This study aimed to identify the transmission route by genotyping C. psittaci from infected humans and birds.42 human C. psittaci samples and 5 samples from C. psittaci-infected birds were collected. Genotyping was performed using ompA sequencing, Multi-locus sequence typing, and/or SNP-based high-resolution melting-PCR. Epidemiological data was also collected, and a phylogenetic analysis was conducted.Analysis of ompA provided limited resolution, while the SNP-based PCR analysis successfully detected the Mat116 genotype in 3/5 passerine birds and in 26/29 human cases, indicating a high prevalence of this genotype in the human population. These cases were associated with contact with wild birds, mainly through bird feeding during winter or other outdoor exposure. Human cases caused by other genotypes (psittacine and pigeon) were less common and were linked to exposure to caged birds or pigeons.The SNP-genotype Mat116 is rare, but predominated in this study. The use of SNP-based PCR provided a better understanding of the C. psittaci transmission from birds to humans compared to ompA analysis. In Sweden, human psittacosis appears mainly to be transmitted from garden birds during bird feeding in the winter season.
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| 2. |
- Påhlson, Carl, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Characteristics of in vitro infection of human monocytes, by Rickettsia helvetica
- 2021
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Ingår i: Microbes and infection. - : Elsevier BV. - 1286-4579 .- 1769-714X. ; 23:2-3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Eighteen species of rickettsiae are reported to cause infections in humans. One of these is Rickettsia helvetica, which is endemic in European and Asian countries and transmitted by the tick Ixodes ricinus. Besides fever, it has been demonstrated to cause meningitis and is also associated with perimyocarditis. One of the initial targets for rickettsiae after inoculation by ticks is the macrophage/monocyte. How rickettsiae remain in the macrophages/monocytes before establishing their infection in vascular endothelial cells remains poorly understood. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the impact on and survival of R. helvetica in a human leukemic monocytic cell line, THP-1. Our results show that R. helvetica survives and propagates in the THP-1 cells. The infection in monocytes was followed for seven days by qPCR and for 30 days by TEM, where invasion of the nucleus was also observed as well as double membrane vacuoles containing rickettsiae, a finding suggesting that R. helvetica might induce autophagy at the early stage of infection. Infected monocytes induced TNF-α which may be important in host defence against rickettsial infections and promote cell survival and inhibiting cell death by apoptosis. The present findings illustrate the importance of monocytes to the pathogenesis of rickettsial disease.
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| 3. |
- Saleh, Bandar Hasan, et al.
(författare)
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Autoantibodies against red blood cell antigens are common in a Malaria endemic area
- 2023
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Ingår i: Microbes and Infection. - : Elsevier BV. - 1769-714X .- 1286-4579. ; 25:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plasmodium falciparum malaria can cause severe anemia. Even after treatment, hematocrit can decrease. The role of autoantibodies against erythrocytes is not clearly elucidated and how common they are, or what they are directed against, is still largely unknown. We have investigated antibodies against erythrocytes in healthy adult men living in a highly malaria endemic area in Uganda. We found antibodies in more than half of the individuals, which is significantly more than in a non-endemic area (Sweden). Some of the Ugandan samples had a broad reactivity where it was not possible to determine the exact target of the autoantibodies, but we also found specific antibodies directed against erythrocyte surface antigens known to be of importance for merozoite invasion such as glycophorin A (anti-En a, anti-M) and glycophorin B (anti-U, anti-S). In addition, several autoantibodies had partial specificities against glycophorin C and the blood group systems Rh, Diego (located on Band 3), Duffy (located on ACKR1), and Cromer (located on CD55), all of which have been described to be important for malaria and therefore of interest for understanding how autoantibodies could potentially stop parasites from entering the erythrocyte. In conclusion, specific autoantibodies against erythrocytes are common in a malaria endemic area.
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| 4. |
- Wang, Helen, et al.
(författare)
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Chlamydia psittaci in Fulmars on The Faroe Islands : A Causative Link to South American Psittacines Eight Decades After a Severe Epidemic
- 2020
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Ingår i: Microbes and infection. - : Elsevier BV. - 1286-4579 .- 1769-714X. ; 22:8, s. 356-359
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A psittacosis epidemic linked to fulmar hunting occurred on the Faroe Islands in the 1930s. This study investigates a plausible explanation to the 20% human mortality in this outbreak. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. psittaci isolated from fulmars were closely related to the highly virulent 6BC strains from psittacines and is compatible with an acquisition by fulmars of an ancestor of the 6BC clade in the 1930s. This supports the hypothesis that the outbreak on the Faroe Islands started after naïve fulmars acquired C. psittaci from infected dead parrots thrown overboard when shipped to Europe in the 1930s.
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