Clostridioides difficile spores produced during infection are important for the recurrence of the disease. Here, we show that C. difficile spores gain entry into the intestinal mucosa via pathways dependent on host fibronectin-α5β1 and vitronectin-αvβ1. The exosporium protein BclA3, on the spore surface, is required for both entry pathways. Deletion of the bclA3 gene in C. difficile, or pharmacological inhibition of endocytosis using nystatin, leads to reduced entry into the intestinal mucosa and reduced recurrence of the disease in a mouse model. Our findings indicate that C. difficile spore entry into the intestinal barrier can contribute to spore persistence and infection recurrence, and suggest potential avenues for new therapies.
Clostridioides difficile spores produced during infection are essential for the recurrence of the disease. However, how C. difficile spores persist in the intestinal mucosa to cause recurrent infection remains unknown. Here, we show that C. difficile spores gain entry into the intestinal mucosa via fibronectin-α5β1 and vitronectin-αvβ1 specific-pathways. The spore-surface exosporium BclA3 protein is essential for both spore-entry pathways into intestinal epithelial cells. Furthermore, C. difficile spores of a bclA3 isogenic mutant exhibited reduced entry into the intestinal mucosa and reduced recurrence of the disease in a mouse model of the disease. Inhibition of C. difficile spore-entry led to reduced spore-entry into the intestinal epithelial barrier and recurrence of C. difficile infection in vivo. These findings suggest that C. difficile spore-entry into the intestinal barrier is a novel mechanism of spore-persistence that can contribute to infection recurrence and have implications for the rational design of therapies.
Introducción: La infección genital por el Virus de Papiloma Humano (VPH) se ha asociado con el cáncer cérvicouterino (CCE) al provocar la aparición de lesiones precursoras de cáncer en la zona de transformación de la unión escamo-columnar del cuello uterino. Existen más de 100 tipos de VPH, clasificados en bajo riesgo oncogénico (VPH-BR) y alto riesgo oncogénico (VPH-AR). Estudios reportan la infección por genotipos de alto riesgo en el 100% de los CCE. En Venezuela, el 67,7% de los CCE, se relacionan con el genotipo de VPH-AR 16.
Objetivo: Detectar la presencia de VPH en pacientes con cambios citológicos cervicouterino. Metodología: Se incluyeron 49 pacientes que presentaban cambios citológicos, se tomaron las muestras de la región endocervical y exocervical para la detección y genotipificación del virus mediante la técnica de Multiple PCR.
Resultados: Las alteraciones citológicas presentes fueron Células Escamosas Atípicas (69,4%), Células Glandulares Atípicas (4,1%), Lesión Escamosa Intraepitelial de Bajo Grado (16,3%), y Lesión Escamosa Intraepitelial de Alto Grado (10,2%). La detección molecular demostró que 16,3% presentaba VPH, 62,5% correspondían a VPH-AR, 25% a VPH-BR, 12,5% al genotipo 16 y no se detectó el genotipo 18. Se reportó un solo caso de coinfección.
Conclusiones: A diferencia de otros estudios, no se encontró una relación estadísticamente significativa entre la presencia del virus y la aparición de cambios citológicos cervicouterino en esta población. No obstante, se detectaron genotipos de alto riesgo oncogénico, lo que puede traducirse en una mayor incidencia de cáncer cervicouterino a futuro.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by a robust inflammatory response against myelin sheath antigens, which causes astrocyte and microglial activation and demyelination of the central nervous system (CNS). Multiple genetic predispositions and environmental factors are known to influence the immune response in autoimmune diseases, such as MS, and in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model. Although the predisposition to suffer from MS seems to be a multifactorial process, a highly sensitive period is pregnancy due to factors that alter the development and differentiation of the CNS and the immune system, which increases the offspring’s susceptibility to develop MS. In this regard, there is evidence that thyroid hormone deficiency during gestation, such as hypothyroidism or hypothyroxinemia, may increase susceptibility to autoimmune diseases such as MS. In this review, we discuss the relevance of the gestational period for the development of MS in adulthood.
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