Thein vitro phagocytic activity of guinea-pig macrophages toSalmonella typhi andSalmonella enteritidis

The engulfing, bactericidal and degrading activities toSalmonella typhi, strain ty2-4446 and 0-901 and toSalmonella enteritidis of guinea pig macrophages obtained from peritoneal exudate, spleen and bone marrow that were cultivated for 2–7 days, were studied. The phagocytic activity was expressed as a total number of phagocytosed microbes and the number of viable bacteria, released from mechanically disrupted macrophages. The ratio of phagocytosed bacteria to the original number of bacteria that were introduced to macrophage cultures, were evaluated in per cents. No significant difference in phagocytic activity was found between macrophages submitted to thein vitro cultivation and macrophages freshly isolated from the organism. Profound variations in phagocytic activity of cells were found which were partially dependent on the dose of microbes employed for the infection of cultures. Furthermore, both the engulfing and bactericidal activity of peritoneal macrophages toSalmonella typhi were found to be higher than in bone morrow macrophages.Salmonella typhi 0-901 microbes were phagocytosed by macrophages from bone marrow and peritoneal exudate much better thanSalmonella typhi ty2. In addition, a significant delay in bactericidal activity toSalmonella typhi ty2 of bone marrow macrophages in comparison to peritoneal macrophages was observed. The spleen macrophages possessed better phagocytic and killing activity toSalmonella enteritidis than bone marrow macrophages. A striking difference was found as regards the intracellular growth ofSalmonella typhi andSalmonella gertneri: no multiplication ofSalmonella typhi within the peritoneal and bone marrow macrophages was observed during the 3–5 h cultivation, whereas on the other hand,Salmonella gertneri started to grow intracellularly within the 5 h cultivation in the bone marrow macrophages.     

Experimental Salmonellosis

An immune ribonucleic acid (RNA) preparation was obtained from the spleens of mice immunized with a live vaccine of Salmonella enteritidis. When peritoneal macrophages were infected with S. enteritidis 116–54 which had been treated by mixed cultivation with the peritoneal exudate cells of mice previously treated with an immune RNA preparation, they showed cellular resistance against the infecting bacteria. According to the results described previously and those described in this article, it can be concluded that the cellular resistance against an infection with S. enteritidis is traceable to a cellular antibody (or antibodies) detected in macrophages of mice immunized with a live vaccine of the same organism or of mice treated in vivo (or in vitro) with an immune RNA preparation.     

Evaluation of Salmonella Porins as a Broad Spectrum Vaccine Candidate

Porins were prepared from smooth strain of Salmonella typhi 0–901 and chemotype of rough mutant of S. typhimurium Ra-30. Mice were immunized with both the porin preparations in different groups and challenged with S. typhimurium LT2–71 and S. enteritidis SH-1269. Porin immunized mice showed significant protection (P <0.01) against challenge with homologous as well as heterologous strains. Hence, the use of porins may be attempted in future to protect against salmonellosis.     

Isolation of stable aroA mutants of Salmonella typhi Ty2: properties and preliminary characterisation in mice

Summary Derivatives of the Salmonella typhi strain Ty2 carrying stable mutations in the aroA gene were isolated. The mutations were generated by transducing an aroA::Tn10 marker into Ty2 and selecting for derivatives which were tetracyline sensitive and dependent on aromatic compounds for growth. Isolates that did not revert to aromatic compound independence at a detectable frequency were obtained. An S. typhimurium derived aroA specific DNA probe was used to demonstrate the presence of DNA rearrangements in the aroA region of the chromosome of some of the S. typhi aroA mutants. Most of these isolates still expressed Vi antigen. Aromatic compound dependent mutants of S. typhi were less virulent in mice than S. typhi Ty2 following intraperitoneal challenge with bacteria suspended in mucin. Mice immunised with one of these mutants, named WBL85-1, were protected against a potentially lethal challenge of S. typhi Ty2.     

Experimental Salmonellosis

When mononuclear phagocytes (macrophages), were infected with Salmonella enteritidis and confined in a diffusion chamber to incubate with normal macrophages, they confer on the normal macrophages cellular immunity, as detected by inhibition to intracellular multiplication of a virulent strain 116-54 and resistance to cellular degeneration caused by phagocytosis of bacteria. An immune ribonucleic acid (RNA) was extracted from the peritoneal macrophages maintained in tissue culture bottles in a homogeneous cell population which had been infected with strains of 5. enteritidis. When peritoneal macrophages, cultured in a homogeneous cell population, were treated in vitro with this agent, they developed cellular immunity and cellular antibody. The RNA preparation was not inactived by treatment with deoxyribonuclease, with pronase or with antibodies to a virulent strain 116-54 of S. enteritidis. These facts suggest that the macrophages constitute a cell line responsible for active antibody formation.     

Stimulation of Macrophage Oxygen Free Radical Production and Lymphocyte Blastogenic Response by Immunization with Porins

Porins were prepared from smooth strain of Salmonella typhi 0–901 and chemotype rough mutant of S. typhimurium Ra-30. Porins could significantly stimulate the immune systems of mice. Immunization of mice with the porins provoked synthesis of anti-porin antibodies. Macrophages from the immunized mice showed increased capacity to generate oxygen free radicals, and lymphocytes from these mice showed proliferative response to the porins. Thus porins may play a role in providing protection from salmonellosis by stimulating the antibody production and increasing the capacity of macrophages to generate oxygen free radicals along with stimulation of lymphocytes.     

Lymphocytic Proliferative Response to Outer-Membrane Proteins Isolated from Salmonella

Porins isolated from Salmonella typhi have been demonstrated to protect against the challenge with this bacteria in mice. The mechanism has not been clarified, but could be associated with activation of both humoral and cellular immunity. In order to evaluate the induction of specific T cell responses, the lymphocytic proliferation to porins isolated from Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli was examined by ³H-thymidine incorporation assay in mice immunized with three different antigens: acetone-killed S. typhimurium, its porins, or outer-membrane proteins (OMPs) isolated from S. typhi. Higher proliferative responses were observed in mice immunized with porins and OMPs compared with those which received the acetone-killed bacteria. Although cross-reactivity was observed between porins, they were not mitogenic. Moreover, porins were able to activate T lymphocytes isolated from mice immunized with S. typhi OMPs. These results suggest that T cell activation, through the release of lymphokines, may play a role in the induction of protective immunity with porins.     

Transfer Agent of Immunity

An immune ribonucleic acid (RNA) was extractable from the spleen cells of mice hyperimmunized with live vaccine of Salmonella enteritidis. The RNA was capable of inducing cellular immunity and developing cellular antibody in the peritoneal macrophages of mice injected with this agent. It was found that cellular immunity was detectable even 90 days after injection in the peritoneal macrophages of mice which had received an intraperitoneal injection with this agent. Results of serial passive transfers of cellular immunity through immune RNA led us to the conclusion that this agent does not contain antigen or fragment thereof and may replicate actively in the recipient cells, although the mechanism still remains to be elucidated. The development of cellular immunity by immune RNA was inhibited by puromycin but not by actinomycin D. However, serial passive transfers of cellular immunity through immune RNA was inhibited by treatment of recipient mouse with actinomycin D, implying the role of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase in the processing of immune RNA in recipient cells. Using these results, the role of immune RNA and the possible mechanisms of immune RNA replication are discussed.     

Antigenic Determinants of Salmonella for Production of “Clearance” Factor in Mouse Typhoid

The “clearance” factor produced in the peritoneal cavity of mice immunized with killed vaccines prepared from Salmonella typhimurium or S. enteritidis was identified as the specific antibodies elicited by the O side chain of the cell wall polysaccharides in the organisms used as immunogens. After immunization of mice with vaccines prepared from virulent Salmonella strains, complement-dependent antibacterial antibodies in the serum and “clearance” factors in the peritoneal cavity were found to appear coincidentally, to last for more than one year, and to have the same specificity against the virulent bacterial strains. The relationship between the complement-dependent antibacterial antibodies and “clearance” factor, and the mechanisms of bactericidal action of these antibacterial agents in experimental typhoid were discussed.     

Bacteriophage P22 as a vehicle for transducing cosmid gene banks between smooth strains of Salmonella typhimurium: use in identifying a role for aroD in attenuating virulent Salmonella strains

Summary A cosmid gene bank of the virulent Salmonella typhimurium C5 was constructed in Escherichia coli K12. The bank was repackaged into bacteriophage heads and transduced into the semi-rough S. typhimurium strain AS68 which expresses the LamB receptor protein. Approximately 6000 ampicillin-resistant transductants were pooled and used as host for the propagation of bacteriophage P22. The P22 lysate was able to transduce cosmid recombinants to smooth strains of S. typhimurium and individual transductants were selected which complemented various S. typhimurium auxotrophic mutations. A stable mutation was introduced into the aroD gene of S. typhimurium C5. The resulting aroD ^- mutant, named CU038, was highly attenuated compared with the wild-type parent strain and BALB/c mice immunised orally with CU038 were well protected against challenge with the virulent C5 parental strain. Using the cosmid bank repackaged into bacteriophage P22 heads it was possible to isolate cosmid recombinants that could complement the aroD mutation of CU038 either by in vitro selection using minimal medium or in vivo selection for restoration of virulence in BALB/c mice. Repackaged P22 cosmid banks could provide a simple system for selecting in vivo for Salmonella virulence determinants. A Salmonella typhi strain harbouring mutations in aroA and aroD was constructed for potential use as a live oral typhoid vaccine in humans.     

Dietary zinc-methionine enhances mononuclear-phagocytic function in young turkeys

The ability of dietary zinc-methionine (Zn-Met) to enhance mononuclear-phagocytic function againstSalmonella arizona andenteritids was investigated in young turkeys. Feed/gain and body wt gain at 21 d of age were not affected by Zn-Met. The addition of 30 or 45 ppm Zn from Zn-Met to a Zn adequate diet significantly increased cutaneous basophil hypersensitivity to phytohemagglutinin-P. The clearance of intravenously administeredS. enteritidis from blood was not affected by 30 ppm of supplemental Zn from Zn-Met. However, 30 ppm Zn from Zn-Met increased the reduction of intravenously administeredS. arizona from spleen. Percentages of myeloid and mononuclear-phagocytic cells before and afterS. enteritidis infection were not affected by supplemental Zn-Met. Turkeys supplemented with Zn-Met showed enhanced in vitro phagocytosis ofS. enteritidis by Sephadex-elicited abdominal exudate cells. The phagocytosis ofS. arizona was unaffected by Zn-Met.     

Translocation ofLactobacillus murinus from the gastrointestinal tract

Bacterial translocation is defined as the passage of viable bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract to the mesenteric lymph nodes and other extraintestinal sites. The translocation rate of a newly described species of indigenous bacteria,Lactobacillus murinus, was compared with the translocation rates of indigenousLactobacillus acidophilus and nonindigenousSalmonella enteritidis. Groups of germfree or antibiotic-decontaminated, specific pathogen-free mice were monoassociated with each of these bacterial strains and tested at various intervals for translocation to the mesenteric lymph nodes. The translocation rates of the various bacteria expressed in decreasing order as the numbers of translocating bacteria per gram mesenteric lymph node wereS. enteritidis, L. murinus, andL. acidophilus. The degree of histologic damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa after monoassociation with these strains followed the same pattern. Thus,L. murinus translocates from the GI tract at a surprisingly high rate for an indigenous bacterial strain, and its translocation appears to be associated with mucosal alterations.     

Virulence and vaccine potential of Salmonella typhlmurium mutants deficient in the expression of the RpoS (σs) regulon

The alternative sigma factor RpoS (σ^s) is required for Salmonella virulence in mice. We report the immunizing capacity of Salmonella typhimurlum rpoS and rpoS aroA mutants to protect susceptible BALB/c mice against subsequent oral challenge with virulent S. typhimurium. When administered orally or intraperitoneally, rpoS derivatives of the mouse-virulent S. typhimurium strains, C52 and SL1344, were highly attenuated and were efficient single-dose live vaccines. rpoS aroA mutants were more attenuated than corresponding single aroA or rpoS mutants, as assessed after oral or intraperitoneal administration, but retained significant ability to protect mice against salmonellosis. Salmonella rpoS and rpoS aroA mutants therefore deserve serious consideration for rational vaccine design. Consistent with this, Salmonella typhi Ty2, a ‘wild-type’ strain used widely for the development of human live-vaccine candidates against typhoid fever, was shown to be defective for rpoS. In addition, our results demonstrate that rpoS not only controls the growth and persistence of S. typhimurium in deep lymphoid organs, but also plays a role during the initial stages of oral infection.     

Effect of Capsular Polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae on Host Resistance to Bacterial Infections

When Klebsiella pneumoniae capsular polysaccharide (CPS-K) from type 1, Kasuya strain, was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) immediately before i.p. bacterial challenge, the survival time of mice infected with Salmonella enteritidis NUB 1 (virulent strain) was shortened and the mortality rate for mice infected with S. enteritidis NUB 31 (avirulent strain) was enhanced. The promotion of infection with S. enteritidis NUB 1 by CPS-K depended upon its dose, the effect of CPS-K being demonstrable up to as little as 0.2 μg per mouse. In the case of S. enteritidis NUB 31, the effect of CPS-K was detectable only when more than 20 μg per mouse was injected. As a result of enumeration of bacterial populations in the peritoneal washing, blood, liver and spleen, it was revealed that CPS-K promoted in vivo growth of S. enteritidis NUB 1 and NUB 31. In addition, CPS-K enhanced the mortality rate in mice infected with Streptococcus pyogenes or Streptococcus pneumoniae. The peak CPS-K effect on infection with S. enteritidis NUB 1 was seen when given immediately before bacterial challenge. The active substance responsible for the infection-promoting effect of CPS-K was neutral CPS-K, which is distinct from the O antigen and from acidic CPS-K (the type-specific capsular antigen). Preparations of neutral CPS-K isolated from the other three strains of K. pneumoniae exhibited a marked infection-promoting effect comparable with that of preparations from the Kasuya strain. Neutral CPS-K, with identical antigenicity to that from the Kasuya strain, has already been found to exert a strong adjuvant effect on antibody responses to various antigens in mice. No parallelism exists between infection-promoting activity and adjuvant activity of neutral CPS-K.     

Experimental Salmonellosis Immunizing Effect of Live Vaccine Prepared from Various Mutants of Salmonella Having Different Cell Wall Polysaccharides

Immunizing potencies of vaccines prepared from various strains of Salmonella were graded by comparing the mortality rate of immunized mice after challenge with highly virulent strains of either Salmonella enteritidis or S. typhimurium. The resistance against this challenge infection was shown to be conferred by joint immunization with a specific factor, which was represented by O specific lipopolysaccharide of smooth strains, and cross-protection factor, which was a major potent factor in live vaccine. The distribution of this cross-protection factor in rough mutants of S. typhimurium was found to be limited to strains which possessed a polysaccharide chain longer than that of glucose₁-less mutant. The potency conferring cross-resistance was found to be maintained partly in formalin-killed cells and cell walls of the strains harboring cross-protection factor but not in lipopolysaccharide extracted from such strains.     

Migration of Salmonella typhi through Intestinal Epithelial Monolayers: An In Vitro Study

This study characterizes the transmigration of enteroinvasive Salmonella typhi in vitro, using a human intestinal epithelial cell line as a model of small intestinal epithelium. C2BBe cells, a subclone of CACO-2 with a highly differentiated enterocytic phenotype, were grown to maturity on Transwell filters. S. typhi Ty2 and the vaccine strain, Ty21a, the S. typhi mutant X7344 and parent strain SB130, and S. typhimurium 5771 in logarithmic phase were introduced to the upper chamber of the filter units. Numbers of bacteria in the lower chamber, TER and permeability of the monolayer to mannitol were measured over time. Monolayers were examined by light, electron and confocal microscopy to determine the pathway of bacterial transmigration, and intracellular bacteria were estimated by gentamicin assay. Epithelial cell injury was quantified by light microscopy. S. typhi transmigrated earlier and in larger numbers than S. typhimurium, inducing marked changes in electrical resistance and permeability. Unlike S. typhimurium, S. typhi selected epithelial cells in small number and caused their death and extrusion from the monolayers leaving holes through which S. typhi transmigrated. Ty2 consistently transmigrated in larger numbers and with more injury to monolayers than Ty21a. S. typhi crosses the monolayers of C2BBe cells by a paracellular route in contrast to the transcellular pathway described for other Salmonellae. This may be related to the unique pathophysiology of S. typhi infection and the restricted host specificity of this pathogen. In these assays the vaccine strain, Ty21a, is slightly less invasive than its parent, though more invasive than S. typhimurium.     

Effect of Capsular Polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae on Host Resistance to Bacterial Infections

In normal mice, the total count of peritoneal leukocytes was markedly decreased after intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of the capsular polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPS-K) depending on the dosage injected. This decrease was mainly due to the depletion of macrophages, and a decrease in the number of lymphocytes occurred to a lesser extent. CPS-K in relatively smaller doses mobilized polymorphonuclear neutrophilic leukocytes (PMN) into the peritoneal fluid but it decreased them transiently in larger doses. In mice infected i.p. with a virulent strain of Salmonella enteritidis, there was an abundant emigration of PMN into the peritoneal fluid. When 200 μg of CPS-K was injected i.p. immediately before bacterial challenge, emigration of PMN was markedly delayed for 48 hr after infection. Associated with this suppressed emigration of PMN, the numbers of macrophages and lymphocytes in the peritoneal fluid were significantly less in mice treated with CPS-K than those in untreated control mice for 48 hr after infection. The numbers of both cell-associated and extracellular bacteria in the peritoneal fluid were markedly greater in mice treated with CPS-K than those in untreated control mice. In both in vivo and in vitro experiments, ingestion of bacteria by macrophages and PMN was not blocked by CPS-K or neutral CPS-K, the active substance responsible for the infection-promoting effect of CPS-K. It appeared that CPS-K somehow impaired the intraphagocytic bactericidal activity.     

Survival Times of Selected Enteropathogenic Bacteria in Frozen Passionfruit Nectar Base

Five test organisms were used: Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhosa, Salmonella schottmuelleri, Salmonella enteritidis, and Shigella paradysenteriae. Even when large inocula of these test cultures were introduced into fresh passionfruit nectar base, all test organisms were killed within 1 to 2 hr, provided the nectar base was held at room temperature for more than 1 hr before freezing. If the nectar base was frozen immediately after inoculation, four of the five test organisms were eliminated almost as quickly. But the fifth, Salmonella enteritidis, proved to be exceptional: it was being recovered after 90 days of storage at -20 C, when the last available sample was analyzed.     

Protection against Mesocestoides corti infection in mice treated with zymosan or Salmonella enteritidis 11RX

Toye P. G. and Jenkin C. R. 1982. Protection against Mesocestoides corti infection in mice treated with zymosan or Salmonella enteritidis 11RX. International Journal for Parasitology12: 399–402. Zymosan and Salmonella enteritidis 11RX were found to partially protect mice against infection with the cestode Mesocestoides corti. Thus, mice previously infected with S. enteritidis 11RX contained fewer parasites in the peritoneal cavity compared to normal mice. Mice pretreated with zymosan contained fewer parasites in the peritoneal cavity and in the liver compared to normal mice and this protection was enhanced by the passive transfer of serum from mice chronically infected with M. corti. Examination of mice in the initial stages of infection revealed that the administration of zymosan led to an alteration in parasite location from the peritoneal cavity to the liver.     

Nanoparticle Fullerene (C60) demonstrated stable binding with antibacterial potential towards probable targets of drug resistant Salmonella typhi – a computational perspective and in vitro investigation

Salmonella typhi, a Gram negative bacterium, has become multidrug resistant (MDR) to wide classes of antibacterials which necessitate an alarming precaution. This study focuses on the binding potential and therapeutic insight of Nano-Fullerene C60 towards virulent targets of Salmonella typhi by computational prediction and preliminary in vitro assays. The clinical isolates of Salmonella typhi were collected and antibiotic susceptibility profiles were assessed. The drug targets of pathogen were selected by rigorous literature survey and gene network analysis by various metabolic network resources. Based on this study, 20 targets were screened and the 3D structures of few drug targets were retrieved from PDB and others were computationally predicted. The structures of nanoleads such as Fullerene C60, ZnO and CuO were retrieved from drug databases. The binding potential of these nanoleads towards all selected targets were predicted by molecular docking. The best docked conformations were screened and concept was investigated by preliminary bioassays. This study revealed that most of the isolates of Salmonella typhi were found to be MDR (p < .05). The theoretical models of selected drug targets showed high stereochemical validity. The molecular docking studies suggested that Fullerene C60 showed better binding affinity towards the drug targets when compared to ZnO and CuO. The preliminary in vitro assays suggested that 100 μg/L Fullerene C60 posses significant inhibitory activities and absence of drug resistance to this nanoparticle. This study suggests that Fullerene C60 can be scaled up as probable lead molecules against the major drug targets of MDR Salmonella typhi.