Rhodococcus equi human clinical isolates enter and survive within human alveolar epithelial cells

Rhodococcus equi is an emerging opportunistic human pathogen associated with immunosuppressed people, especially those infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This pathogen resides primarily within lung macrophages of infected patients, which may explain in part its ability to escape normal pulmonary defense mechanisms. Despite numerous studies as a pulmonary pathogen in foals, where a plasmid seems to play an important role in virulence, information on the pathogenesis of this pathogen in humans is still scarce. In this study, fluorescence microscopy and vancomycin protection assays were used to investigate the ability of R. equi human isolates to adhere to and to invade the human alveolar epithelial cell line A549. Our findings indicate that some R. equi clinical strains are capable of adhering, entering and surviving within the alveolar cell line, which may contribute to the pathogen persistence in lung tissues.