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Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back

Infection with Listeria monocytogenes is a significant health problem during pregnancy. This study evaluates the role of trafficking between maternal organs and placenta in a pregnant guinea pig model of listeriosis. After intravenous inoculation of guinea pigs, the initial ratio of bacteria in mate...

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Autores principales: Bakardjiev, Anna I, Theriot, Julie A, Portnoy, Daniel A
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2006
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1483233/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16846254
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.0020066
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author Bakardjiev, Anna I
Theriot, Julie A
Portnoy, Daniel A
author_facet Bakardjiev, Anna I
Theriot, Julie A
Portnoy, Daniel A
author_sort Bakardjiev, Anna I
collection PubMed
description Infection with Listeria monocytogenes is a significant health problem during pregnancy. This study evaluates the role of trafficking between maternal organs and placenta in a pregnant guinea pig model of listeriosis. After intravenous inoculation of guinea pigs, the initial ratio of bacteria in maternal organs to placenta was 10(3)–10(4):1. Rapid increase of bacteria in the placenta changed the ratio to 1:1 after 24 h. Utilizing two wild-type strains, differentially marked by their susceptibility to erythromycin, we found that only a single bacterium was necessary to cause placental infection, and that L. monocytogenes trafficked from maternal organs to the placenta in small numbers. Surprisingly, bacteria trafficked in large numbers from the placenta to maternal organs. Bacterial growth, clearance, and transport between organs were simulated with a mathematical model showing that the rate of bacterial clearance relative to the rate of bacterial replication in the placenta was sufficient to explain the difference in the course of listeriosis in pregnant versus nonpregnant animals. These results provide the basis for a new model where the placenta is relatively protected from infection. Once colonized, the placenta becomes a nidus of infection resulting in massive reseeding of maternal organs, where L. monocytogenes cannot be cleared until trafficking is interrupted by expulsion of the infected placental tissues.
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spelling pubmed-14832332006-07-04 Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back Bakardjiev, Anna I Theriot, Julie A Portnoy, Daniel A PLoS Pathog Research Article Infection with Listeria monocytogenes is a significant health problem during pregnancy. This study evaluates the role of trafficking between maternal organs and placenta in a pregnant guinea pig model of listeriosis. After intravenous inoculation of guinea pigs, the initial ratio of bacteria in maternal organs to placenta was 10(3)–10(4):1. Rapid increase of bacteria in the placenta changed the ratio to 1:1 after 24 h. Utilizing two wild-type strains, differentially marked by their susceptibility to erythromycin, we found that only a single bacterium was necessary to cause placental infection, and that L. monocytogenes trafficked from maternal organs to the placenta in small numbers. Surprisingly, bacteria trafficked in large numbers from the placenta to maternal organs. Bacterial growth, clearance, and transport between organs were simulated with a mathematical model showing that the rate of bacterial clearance relative to the rate of bacterial replication in the placenta was sufficient to explain the difference in the course of listeriosis in pregnant versus nonpregnant animals. These results provide the basis for a new model where the placenta is relatively protected from infection. Once colonized, the placenta becomes a nidus of infection resulting in massive reseeding of maternal organs, where L. monocytogenes cannot be cleared until trafficking is interrupted by expulsion of the infected placental tissues. Public Library of Science 2006-06 2006-06-30 /pmc/articles/PMC1483233/ /pubmed/16846254 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.0020066 Text en © 2006 Bakardjiev et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Bakardjiev, Anna I
Theriot, Julie A
Portnoy, Daniel A
Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back
title Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back
title_full Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back
title_fullStr Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back
title_full_unstemmed Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back
title_short Listeria monocytogenes Traffics from Maternal Organs to the Placenta and Back
title_sort listeria monocytogenes traffics from maternal organs to the placenta and back
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1483233/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16846254
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.0020066
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