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Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology of Coxiella burnetii Infection

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A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2023) | Viewed by 4334

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Benoit Desnues

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Guest Editor

Microbes Evolution Phylogeny and Infections, IHU Mediterranee Infection, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France
Interests: Intracellular pathogens; myeloid cells; host responses; infection cell biology; virulence factors

Dr. Soraya Mezouar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Microbe Evolution Phylogeny Infection, Institut pour la Recherche et le Developpement, Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Marseille, Aix-Marseille University, 13005 Marseille, France
Interests: intracellular pathogens; foeto-maternal interface; host response

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of Q fever, a zoonosis with significant outbreaks worldwide. Given its very low infectious dose, mode of contamination, ease of dissemination and environmental resistance, C. burnetii has been classified as a category B critical biologic agent by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and the disease is included in the World Organisation for Animal Health list of notifiable diseases. In Humans, the primary infection which may be symptomatic resolves spontaneously in most of the cases. Efficient host defense relies on cell-mediated immunity, with a critical role for Th1 response and interferon-gamma. Progression to persistent infection reflects failure of the Th1 response and results from a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic parameters, in which interleukin-10 plays a significant role.

At the cell level, C. burnetii invades and replicates intracellularly in a complex vacuole whose biogenesis requires both endocytic and autophagic pathways. The design of an axenic culture medium for this strict intracellular pathogen and the development of mutagenesis tools paved the way for major advances into the understanding of C. burnetii virulence and its interaction with host cells. However, questions and challenges still remain regarding pathogenesis, and notably the role of host susceptibility factors (among others the sex, age, pregnancy or genetic predisposing factors) but also the phenotypic and genetic diversity of clinical isolates, their virulence and potential relation with the presentation of the disease.

In this special issue, we would like to invite all submissions (research, short communications, and review manuscripts) related to the pathogenesis of C. burnetii including clinical, epidemiological, immunological but also microbiological and cellular aspects of C. burnetii infections.

Dr. Benoit Desnues
Dr. Soraya Mezouar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Coxiella burnetii
host responses
Q fever, pathogenesis
Q fever pathophysiology
therapeutic development

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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8 pages, 830 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of Acute Q Fever in Reunion Island over Fourteen Years: A Retrospective Cohort Study

by Alexandra Aubin, Carole Eldin, Naël Zemali, Julien Jaubert, Yatrika Koumar, Marie-Pierre Moiton, Patrice Poubeau, Eric Braunberger, Patrick Gérardin and Antoine Bertolotti

Microorganisms 2023, 11(10), 2485; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11102485 - 3 Oct 2023

Viewed by 762

Abstract

The clinical characteristics and epidemiology of Q fever in the Tropics are poorly described. We performed a retrospective cohort study of hospitalized cases between 2004 and 2017 in Reunion Island. Acute Q fever was defined in presence of a positive serology (phase II IgG ≥ 200 and phase II IgM ≥ 50), or a seroconversion (4-fold increase in phase II IgG between paired samples), or a positive PCR (blood or serum). Forty-two cases matched the diagnostic criteria. The most common clinical manifestations were fever (85.7%) and pulmonary symptoms (61.9%), including pneumonia (45.2%). Ninety percent of the patients were living in a farming area. Cumulative incidence was estimated at 9.3 per 100,000 inhabitants (95%CI: 6.4–12.1) with cases diagnosed yearly all throughout the study period except in 2006. Together with the seroprevalence figures, these data suggest that Q fever reaches low to moderate endemic levels on Reunion Island. As previously reported, pulmonary symptoms are in the foreground. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology of Coxiella burnetii Infection)

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13 pages, 2280 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Coxiella burnetii Dugway Strain Host-Pathogen Interactions In Vivo

by Mahelat Tesfamariam, Picabo Binette, Diane Cockrell, Paul A. Beare, Robert A. Heinzen, Carl Shaia and Carrie Mae Long

Microorganisms 2022, 10(11), 2261; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10112261 - 15 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1539

Abstract

Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative, intracellular bacterium that causes the zoonosis Q fever. Among the many natural isolates of C. burnetii recovered from various sources, the Dugway group exhibits unique genetic characteristics, including the largest C. burnetii genomes. These strains were isolated during 1954–1958 from wild rodents from the Utah, USA desert. Despite retaining phase I lipopolysaccharide and the type 4B secretion system, two critical virulence factors, avirulence has been reported in a guinea pig infection model. Using guinea pig models, we evaluated the virulence, whole-cell vaccine (WCV) efficacy, and post-vaccination hypersensitivity (PVH) potential of a representative Dugway strain. Consistent with prior reports, Dugway appeared to be highly attenuated compared to a virulent strain. Indeed, Dugway-infected animals showed similarly low levels of fever, body weight loss, and splenomegaly like Nine Mile II-infected animals. When compared to a human Q fever vaccine, QVax^®, Dugway WCV exhibited analogous protection against a heterologous Nine Mile I challenge. PVH was investigated in a skin-testing model which revealed significantly decreased maximum erythema in Dugway Δdot/icm WCV-skin-tested animals compared to that of QVax^®. These data provide insight into this unique bacterial strain and implicate its potential use as a mutated WCV candidate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology of Coxiella burnetii Infection)

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Other

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11 pages, 3308 KiB

Open AccessBrief Report

Serosurvey of Coxiella burnetii in Descendants of Former Black Slaves (Quilombola Communities) of Southern Brazil

by Danilo Alves de França, Louise Bach Kmetiuk, Giovanni Augusto Kalempa Panazzolo, Orlei José Domingues, Filipe Pereira da Silva, Leandro Meneguelli Biondo, Mateus de Souza Ribeiro Mioni, Fábio Sossai Possebon, Ana Íris de Lima Duré, Marcos Vinicius Ferreira Silva, Myrian Morato Duarte, Giovani Marino Fávero, Alexander Welker Biondo and Helio Langoni

Microorganisms 2024, 12(1), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12010092 - 2 Jan 2024

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1006

Abstract

Brazilian descendants of former Black-slave (quilombola) communities have been predisposed to several zoonotic diseases due to social vulnerability, characterized by subsistence and close contact with livestock and companion animals. Accordingly, the present study has assessed anti-Coxiella burnetii antibodies in 200 individuals and 20 dogs from four quilombola communities located in Paraná State, southern Brazil. Serum samples were tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using in-house and commercial diagnostic protocols, with analysis of seropositive titers and antibody type. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare seropositivity to C. burnetti with binary variables, with variables with three or more possible responses submitted to logistic regression. In total, 44/200 (22%; 95% CI 16.82–28.24) people tested positive, and 4.5% had titers higher than 128, indicating a recent onset of C. burnetii infection. Seropositive individuals were statistically associated with the Limitão community (p = 0.0013), urban workers as occupations (p = 0.0475), consumption of undercooked meat (p = 0.0159), and contact with animal abortion (p = 0.0276). No seropositivity association was found for age, sex, education, habit of entering forest areas, consumption of game meat, consumption of raw milk, flea and tick bites, dog contact, or history of female miscarriage. Only one of 20 dogs was seropositive with a titer of 128, probably related to an acute animal infection. Despite the prevalence here being higher than previous Brazilian reports, including with symptomatic populations, the results were within range for worldwide outbreaks and occupational risk populations. To the reader’s knowledge, this is the first human survey of Q fever in southern Brazil and should be considered a warning for C. burnetii in vulnerable populations, particularly Quilombola communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology of Coxiella burnetii Infection)

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