Production of Antigenically Related Exocellular Elastolytic Proteases Mediating Hemagglutination by Vibrios

Exocellular proteases produced by Vibrio fluvialis, V. furnissii, V. metschnikovii and V. campbellii were characterized and compared to those of V. mimicus protease (VMP) and V. vulnificus protease (VVP). These proteases possessed both elastolytic and hemagglutinating abilities and were identified, except that of V. metschnikovii, as metalloprotease. Conversely, V. metschnikovii protease failed to exhibit some of the salient features for metalloproteases suggesting the existence of protease(s) other than metalloprotease. However, antibodies against VVP cross-reacted to these proteases and to VMP indicating antigenic relatedness amongst vibrio proteases. This study, thus, demonstrated the prevalent distributions of antigenically related proteases both in pathogenic and non-pathogenic vibrios, bringing their status as a virulence determinant into question.     

Existence of a Novel Hemagglutinin Having No Protease Activity in Vibrio mimicus

The protease elaborated by Vibrio mimicus is known to possess hemagglutinating ability to chicken erythrocytes, the well-known HA/protease. A non-protease hemagglutinin (HA) with strong agglutinating ability towards rabbit erythrocytes was obtained from 32 hr culture supernatant of a pathogenic environmental strain of V. mimicus. This HA (V. mimicus HA: VMHA) appeared stable at relatively higher temperature and agglutinated the erythrocytes from rabbit, guinea pig and mouse but not the erythrocytes from chicken, bovine, horse and sheep. Simple sugars, metal ions and chelating agents failed to inhibit the activity of VMHA. The activity of VMHA was found to be sensitive to digestion by proteolytic enzymes including HA/protease. These results provide evidence for the existence of novel HA other than HA/protease in V. mimicus.     

Histopathological changes in experimental cholera with a non toxigenic non- O1 non-O139 Vibrio cholerae strain isolated from Kolkata, India

This study was conducted to understand the pathophysiological changes in experimental rabbit ileal loop model using the Vibrio cholerae strain non-O1non-O139, isolated as sole pathogen from clinically diagnosed cholera patients in Kolkata. Significant amount of haemorrhagic fluid accumulation was observed in all the test loops of rabbit model where the strain of V.cholerae was inoculated as compared to control loops. Microscopic examination of the accumulated fluid showed the presence of erythrocytes and pus cells. Histology revealed structural alteration of the villous epithelium with inflammatory cells infiltration in all the layers of the gut mucosa including the nerve plexus region. Preliminary observation with a haemagglutinin protease extracted from the non-O1 non-O139 strain, was also studied in different concentrations in the same animal model which showed similar type of macroscopic and microscopic response in the ileal loops as seen with the original strain. The results highlight that along with other pathways, inflammatory cells and the enteric neurons have an important role in the pathophysiology of diarrhoea and the isolated protease may be the probable virulence factor in initiating the disease process in this non-O1non-O139 strain induced cholera.     

Enterotoxicity ofVibrio furnissii isolated from eels

Fourteen strains ofVibrio furnissii, isolated from different ulcerated areas of eel, were tested to check their enterotoxicity in an animal model. Most strains caused fluid accumulation in ileal loop tests after serial passages and culture filtrates of most of the strains caused induration and increase in vascular permeability in rabbit skin. Production of extracellular haemolysin was also detected in all the culture filtrates. All of these observations clearly establish the enterotoxicity of these organisms.     

江苏水产养殖区拟态弧菌种群结构及遗传多样性

【背景】拟态弧菌(Vibrio mimicus)是一种常见的革兰氏阴性病原菌,广泛分布于水环境和水生动物体内,可导致多种水产动物和人类感染。多位点序列分型(multilocus sequence typing, MLST)已被应用于多种病原菌的分子分型,其通过分析不同菌株之间的遗传关系,监测细菌传播的时间和地理分布,确定感染和传播途径,但目前未见有关拟态弧菌MLST的报道。【目的】开发一种基于MLST的拟态弧菌分型方法,并用于江苏水产养殖区拟态弧菌的种群结构和遗传进化分析,为拟态弧菌感染所引起的疾病防治提供理论基础。【方法】选择拟态弧菌的7个管家基因dnaE、gyrB、mdh、recA、rpoD、pntA和pyrH作为靶点,对江苏水产养殖区分离的155株拟态弧菌进行PCR扩增和测序。将测序结果分配等位基因,制作等位基因谱,分配不同的序列类型(sequence type, ST),利用软件goeBURST-1.2.1和MEGA-X对分配的ST型进行克隆复合体和遗传进化树聚类分析;此外,利用Kirby-Bauer圆盘扩散法测试155株拟态弧菌的药敏特性。【结果】155株拟态弧菌被分为56个STs,其中ST11占比最高;在双位点变异(double locus variants, DLV)水平分析发现56个STs分为3个克隆复合体和3个单体;系统发育树显示,56个STs被分为3个集群(cluster I、cluster II、cluster III)。药敏结果显示,155株拟态弧菌对红霉素类抗生素的耐药性最高(88.39%, 137/155),对氯霉素类抗生素敏感性最高(91.61%, 142/155)。【结论】本研究建立的MLST方法具有良好的分辨率,可作为拟态弧菌系统发育和未来流行病学调查有用的分子分型工具。根据抗生素耐药谱结果,提示在养殖过程中可选用氟苯尼考等国家批准使用的专用抗菌药对拟态弧菌进行防治。     

A phenotypic and genetic study of sucrose nonfermenting strains ofVibrio mimicus andVibrio cholerae

Sixty-six strains unable to ferment sucrose and resemblingVibrio mimicus andV. cholerae were submitted to an extensive phenotypic characterization. DNA-DNA homology among selected strains and the type strain ofV. cholerae was studied by the S1 endonuclease method. Seven sucrose-negative strains were shown to have the phenotypic properties of and a high percentage DNA relatedness toV. cholerae and a low level of homology withV. mimicus. Eight luminescent strains phenotypically most closely resembledV. mimicus; however, two of these were shown to have a high level of DNA homology withV. cholerae and a low level of relatedness toV. mimicus. A single strain was found to be phenotypically and genetically unrelated to eitherV. cholerae orV. mimicus and may represent a new species. The remaining strains were phenotypically shown to beV. mimicus, and selected strains were shown to have a high percentage DNA homology withV. mimicus and a low level of homology withV. cholerae. Problems associated with the identification of these strains and differential traits are discussed.     

Vibrio mimicus are the reservoirs of the heat-stable enterotoxin gene (nag-st) among species of the genus Vibrio

Using a 0.27 kb DNA probe specific for the heat-stable enterotoxin gene (nag-st) of Vibrio cholerae non-O1, 1109 strains representing 17 species of the genus Vibrio, isolated from clinical and environmental sources were examined. The nag-st gene was preponderantly associated with strains classified as V. mimicus; 16.8% of these strains hybridized. It was more frequent in the clinical isolates (22.6%) than in the environmental isolates (13.7%). The incidence of nag-st gene-positive strains of V. mimicus isolated from different countries was uniformly high and ranged between 8.7% (Bangladesh) and 57.1% (environmental strains from USA). The incidence of the nag-st gene was much lower among strains of V. cholerae non-O1 (3.6%). Probe-positive and-negative strains of V. mimicus and V. cholerae non-O1 were used to evaluate the performance of the conventional suckling mouse assay for detection of the NAG-ST enterotoxin. Of the 31 probe-positive strains, only five (16.1%) yielded a positive fluid accumulation ratio (FA ratio) when neat heated culture supernatant was used to perform the suckling mouse assay. All the 31 probe-positive strains gave a positive FA ratio when 20-fold concentrated and heated culture supernatants of the strains were used to perform the suckling mouse assay. The need to concentrate (by at least 20-fold) the culture supernatant of strains of V. mimicus and V. Cholerae non-O1 was identified as an important step to obtain consistent results when using the suckling mouse assay for detection of NAG-ST.P. Yuan, A. Ogawa and T. Takeda are with the Department of Infectious Disease Research, National Children's Medical Research Center, 3-35-31 Taishido, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 154, Japan; P. Yuan is also with the National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, Beijing, China. T. Ramamurthy and G.B. Nair are with the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Calcutta, India. T. Shimada is with the National Institute of Health, Tokyo 141, Japan. S. Shinoda is with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan.     

Potential pathogenic factors produced by a clinical nontoxigenicVibrio cholerae O1

A clinical isolate of nontoxigenicVibrio cholerae O1 that caused intestinal fluid accumulation (FA) in adult mice produced proteolytic, hemolytic, and cytotoxic activities in in vitro assays. The linkage of these secreted factors to the FA activity was studied by transposon (TnphoA) mutagenesis. Ten of the 12 TnphoA insertion mutants that were defective for proteolytic activity produced FA, hemolytic and cytotoxic activities; the remaining two mutants lost these latter three activities. These results indicate that FA activity is independent of proteolytic activity but closely associated with cytotoxic and hemolytic activities. Our results with the adult mouse model and a nontoxigenicV. cholerae O1 are in general agreement with previous studies that demonstrated linkage of cytotoxin and hemolysin of toxigenicV. cholerae O1 and non-O1 with FA activity in rabbit ileal loops.     

Isolation and characterization of a cytolysin produced by Vibrio cholerae serogroup non-O1

A thermolabile toxin (molecular weight, 52 711; isoelectric point, 8.65) produced by a clinical isolate of Vibrio cholerae serogroup non-O1 was cytotoxic for Y-1 mouse adrenal cells and Chinese hamster ovary cells. The toxin lysed rabbit red blood cells and produced a hemorrhagic zone in rabbit skin. When injected intravenously into adult mice, the cytolysin was rapidly lethal and caused fluid accumulation in both 5- and 18-h rabbit ileal loops. Strains of V. cholerae that produced cytolysin but no cholerae enterotoxin were able to cause fluid accumulation in rabbit intestinal loops.     

Expression of virulence-related properties by, and intestinal adhesiveness of, Vibrio mimicus strains isolated from aquatic environments.

A study of the major pathogenic characteristics of Vibrio mimicus was carried out with 77 strains isolated from aquatic environments in Okayama, Japan. Of the strains tested, 96% demonstrated in vitro adherence to the rabbit intestinal mucosa, of which 36, 20, and 43% belonged to the strongly, moderately, and weakly adhesive groups, respectively. Of the 27 strains which appeared to be enterotoxigenic in the experiments using rabbit ileal loops, 74% belonged to the strongly adhesive group. All strains of V. mimicus at early log phase showed cell-mediated hemagglutination, and 70% of strongly hemagglutinative strains belonged to the strongly adhesive group, implying a possible correlation between cell-mediated hemagglutination and bacterial adherence. However, no significant correlation could be detected in the production of putative exocellular pathogenic factors and bacterial adherence or enterotoxigenicity.     

Evidence for the direct involvement ofβ-hemolysin inAeromonas hydrophila enteropathogenicity

Culture filtrates of 19 of 21 (90%) -hemolytic isolates ofAeromonas hydrophila caused fluid accumulation in permanently ligated rabbit ileal loops, whereas no fluid was accumulated with filtrates of eight non--hemolytic isolates. Antiserum to purified -hemolysin neutralized the ileal loop activity of culture filtrates from four of four -hemolytic isolates, and treatment at 56°C for 10 min eliminated the loop activity of six additional isolates. These results support the conclusion that -hemolysin alone causes significant changes in intestinal permeability and that it is a more common pathogenic mechanism than the heat-stable cytotonic enterotoxin. Electrophoretic and serological assays showed evidence for production of only one species of -hemolysin byA. hydrophila.     

弧菌外膜蛋白OmpU的免疫交叉反应性和交叉保护性北大核心CSCD

【目的】通过对弧菌外膜蛋白Omp U的克隆、表达以及免疫学特性分析,明确外膜蛋白Omp U是否为弧菌的共同抗原,并具有免疫交叉反应性和交叉保护性。【方法】对弧菌外膜蛋白omp U基因进行克隆和生物信息学分析。分别制备副溶血弧菌、溶藻弧菌、创伤弧菌、拟态弧菌和霍乱弧菌的Omp U重组蛋白抗血清,对Omp U的免疫交叉反应特性以及抗原表位定位情况进行比较分析。以霍乱弧菌的Omp U重组蛋白免疫小鼠后,再以多种弧菌进行攻毒,分析其交叉免疫保护作用。【结果】外膜蛋白Omp U在弧菌种内和种间相似性分别为73.0%–100%和58.6%–89.0%,并至少存在9个保守的B细胞抗原表位。Omp U重组蛋白抗血清在弧菌种内和种间均产生显著的免疫交叉反应,识别弧菌中分子量35–40 k Da的同源蛋白。副溶血弧菌ATCC17802、创伤弧菌ATCC27562和拟态弧菌ATCC33653来源的Omp U重组蛋白抗体能识别供试菌株,提示这些菌株的Omp U抗原表位定位于细胞表面。Omp U重组蛋白对免疫后的小鼠具有交叉免疫保护作用,攻毒实验后小鼠相对存活率(RPS)为43.0%–100%。【结论】上述结果表明,外膜蛋白Omp U是弧菌中一种保守的共同抗原,具有免疫交叉保护性,可以作为弧菌广谱疫苗的候选抗原。     

Characterization of non-membrane-damaging cytotoxin of non-toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1 and its relevance to disease

The non-membrane-damaging cytotoxin which causes dramatic cell rounding of cultured HeLa cells was purified to homogeneity from a clinical strain (WO5) of non-toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1 Inaba belonging to the El Tor biotype. The purified protein has a denatured molecular weight of 35 kDa and a native molecular weight of approximately 37 kDa indicating the monomeric nature of the protein. The 15 N-terminal amino acid sequence of non-membrane-damaging cytotoxin showed complete homology to the hemagglutinin protease previously purified and characterized from V. cholerae O1. Purified non-membrane-damaging cytotoxin from V. cholerae O1 was immunologically and biochemically identical to that previously purified from V. cholerae O26. Non-membrane-damaging cytotoxin was found to be enterotoxic in rabbit ileal loop assay inducing accumulation of non-hemorrhagic fluid at 100 μg and elicited a concentration dependent increase in short circuit current and tissue conductance of rabbit ileal mucosa mounted on Ussing chambers. A significant serum immunoglobulin G response against non-membrane-damaging cytotoxin was elicited by patients infected with V. cholerae O139 but not with V. cholerae O1. These properties make non-membrane-damaging cytotoxin a potential virulence factor of V. cholerae which should be taken into consideration while making live, attenuated recombinant vaccine strains against cholera.     

Adherence to human small intestines of capsulated Vibrio cholerae O139

Abstract Capsulated cells of V. cholerae O139 adhered to formalis-fixed or native mucosa of the small intestines from an adult and a child. The primary adherence target was mucus. Capsulated O139 cells adhered better to the antigen sampling cells (M cells) of ileal Peyer's patch than to the absorptive cells. O139 cells on the mucosa appeared as small aggregates. Similar organisms were found on the mucosa of duodenal biopsy samples from patients infected with V. cholerae O139. The findings indicated that capsulated cells of V. cholerae O139 tend to autoagglutinate and contribute to the effective adherence to the intestinal mucosa.     

Role of anaerobiosis in virulence of Salmonella typhimuirium

Intestinal pathogens are exposed to various stress conditions during their infectious cycle. Anaerobiosis, one of such hostile condition, is offered by the host within gut and intestinal lumen, where survival, multiplication and entry into intestinal epithelial cells is priority for the invading pathogen. In the present study, a virulent strain of S. typhimurium (1402/84) was grown under anaerobic conditions and its virulence characteristics such as host cell binding, penetration and intracellular survival were compared with aerobic S. typhimurium. Anaerobically grown S. typhimurium showed significantly higher binding to immobilized mice enterocytes and intestinal mucus as compared to bacteria grown aerobically. Anaerobic bacteria also showed an early penetration of mucus and subsequent binding to underlying immobilized enterocytes, in vitro. Anaerobic S. typhimurium exhibited increased intracellular survival within spleen macrophages of mice and caused significantly higher fluid accumulation in ligated rabbit ileal loops as compared to aerobic bacteria. LD₅₀ of anaerobic S. typhimurium was also observed to be 2 fold lower when compared to aerobic bacteria. Cell surface hydrophobicity of anaerobic S. typhimurium was also found to be significantly higher than aerobic bacteria. Thus, it appears that exposure of S. typhimurium to anaerobiosis results in its enhanced virulence, adhesion and penetration of host cells.     

An Adult Mouse Model of Vibrio cholerae-induced Diarrhea for Studying Pathogenesis and Potential Therapy of Cholera

Cholera is a diarrheal disease causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study aimed to establish an adult mouse model of Vibrio cholerae-induced diarrhea and to characterize its pathophysiology. Ligated ileal loops of adult mice were inoculated for 6, 9, 12 and 18 h with a classical O1 hypertoxigenic 569B strain of V. cholerae (10⁷ CFU/loop). Time-course studies demonstrated that the optimal period for inducing diarrhea was 12 h post-inoculation, when peak intestinal fluid accumulation (loop/weight ratio of ∼0.2 g/cm) occurred with the highest diarrhea success rate (90%). In addition, pathogenic numbers of V. cholerae (∼10⁹ CFU/g tissue) were recovered from ileal loops at all time points between 6–18 h post-inoculation with the diarrheagenic amount of cholera toxin being detected in the secreted intestinal fluid at 12 h post-inoculation. Interestingly, repeated intraperitoneal administration of CFTR_inh-172 (20 µg every 6 h), an inhibitor of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), completely abolished the V. cholerae-induced intestinal fluid secretion without affecting V. cholerae growth in vivo. As analyzed by ex vivo measurement of intestinal electrical resistance and in vivo assay of fluorescein thiocyanate (FITC)-dextran trans-intestinal flux, V. cholerae infection had no effect on intestinal paracellular permeability. Measurements of albumin in the diarrheal fluid suggested that vascular leakage did not contribute to the pathogenesis of diarrhea in this model. Furthermore, histological examination of V. cholerae-infected intestinal tissues illustrated edematous submucosa, congestion of small vessels and enhanced mucus secretion from goblet cells. This study established a new adult mouse model of V. cholerae-induced diarrhea, which could be useful for studying the pathogenesis of cholera diarrhea and for evaluating future therapeutics/cholera vaccines. In addition, our study confirmed the major role of CFTR in V. cholerae-induced intestinal fluid secretion.     

Studies on adhesion, haemagglutination and other biological properties of Vibrio cholerae O139

Abstract The adhesive capabilities of eight Vibrio cholerae O139 epidemic strains to isolated rabbit intestinal epithelial cells (RIEC) were observed to be high similar to those observed with a Vibrio cholerae O1 strain isolated from patients. Toxin production by the strains, measured by accumulation of fluid in rabbit ileal loop model, was high and the toxin was lethal as the animal expired within 6 h. Culture filtrates of the strains exhibited the presence of vascular permeability factor which produce induration and necrosis in the adult rabbit and guinea pig skin. All the strains showed high to moderate haemagglutinin titres against chicken erythrocytes and produced El Tor-like haemolysin. SDS-PAGE of the outer membrane preparation of the strains showed the presence of major protein component at 38 kDa region. The lethality of the toxin, high adhesive activity, shifting of the major outer membrane protein band and production of thermolabile haemolysin on Wagatsuma agar were the major variations of these epidemic strains from V. cholerae O1 and V. cholerae non-O1 strains isolated previously.     

Histopathological study of rabbit intestinal mucosa infected with a hybrid strain of Shigella dysenteriae 1 carrying LPS biosynthesis genes of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium

The rfb gene cluster and the rfc gene of Salmonella enterica were introduced earlier into an invasive Shigella dysenteriae 1 strain by triparental cross. Antiserum was raised in rabbit against lipopolysaccharide isolated from the hybrid strain. Both the hybrid and the invasive S. dysenteriae 1 strain were found to have a titer of 1:2560 while for S. enterica, it was 1:640. Ligated ileal loops were prepared in rabbit, which were inoculated with 10(8) CFU ml(-1) each of the hybrid strain, and invasive S. dysenteriae 1 strain used as positive control. Escherichia coli K12 was also used as a negative control. After 18 h, the fluid accumulation ratios were 0.2 and 1.6 for hybrid and invasive strains of S. dysenteriae 1, respectively. Rabbit intestinal mucosa infected with hybrid S. dysenteriae 1 strain showed the presence of intact villus tips and unruptured intestinal mucosa whereas total necrosis of intestinal mucosa and villi was observed in the S. dysenteriae 1-infected region.     

The role of immune pig colostrum,serum and immunoglobulins IgG,IgM, and IgA in local intestinal immunity against enterotoxic strain ofEscherichia coli 055 in germfree piglets

The protective effect of pig immune colostrum, serum and immunoglobulins IgG, IgM and IgA against the enterotoxic strain ofEscherichia coli O55, was studied in newborn germfree piglets. This strain produced accumulation of fluid and dilatation of intestine when injected into the ligated ileal segment of germfree piglets, which is considered to be the typical effect of enterotoxins. Erosion of the intestinal epithelium and penetration of bacteria into the submucosa were also observed. Immune serum, colostrum and all the immunoglobulin classes used produced a local protective effect, IgA being most effective. The mechanism of protection conferred by these immunoglobulins is discussed with respect to the possible pathogenic action of enterotoxicEscherichia coli O55 in the intestinal tract of immunologically virgin germfree piglets.     

Pathogenicity of nonagglutinating vibrios]

In studying the pathogenicity of nonagglutinating vibrios it was established that the majority of the strains isolated from the patients suffering from enteritis possessed enteropathogenic properties which were revealed in the trials on nursling rabbits and on the isolated intestinal loop a of an adult rabbit. In difference to the cholera vibryos, these microorganisms produced no typical cholerogenicity syndrome expressing, however, a number of enteropathogenic properties: caused diarrhea, overfilling of the intestine with fluid, etc. Autopsy showed a typical enterocolitis picture, confirmed by histological studies. Nonagglutinating vibrio cultures isolated from the water and from healthy persons possessed no enteropathogenic properties. An isolated intestinal loop of an adult rabbit proved to be the most sensitive experimental model.