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[Anthrax--an old disease becomes topical: cutaneous anthrax and the eye].

BACKGROUND: Anthrax disease and its eye manifestations were rare in the last 100 years, but the threat of terrorist actions has revived its topicality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After an introductory historical review, the pathogenesis of this disease with regard to the virulence of Bacillus anthracis is reported. On the basis of photos displaying the course of the disease, the symptoms particularly of the cutaneous form of this disease as well as the diagnostic possibilities are described. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The current status of therapy and research for more effective treatment is discussed, with particular emphasis on the development of new substances with antitoxin properties and better vaccines. Bacillus anthracis is once again an actual threat, and therefore it is necessary for doctors to familiarize themselves with the current knowledge of this infection.

Anthrax↗

Monitoring anthrax vaccine safety in US military service members on active duty: surveillance of 1998 hospitalizations in temporal association with anthrax immunization.

We compared 1998 hospitalizations in active-duty US military personnel for possible temporal association with anthrax immunization. Immunization, demographic, and hospitalization data were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards modeling for hospitalization within 42 days of vaccination. Discharge diagnoses were aggregated into 14 International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) categories. Approximately 11% of subjects received one or more doses of vaccine during 1998; those immunized were more likely to be younger and male. Lower hospitalization rates were observed across doses and diagnostic categories among the immunized. Adjusted risk ratios for hospitalization by diagnostic category suggest that immunized service members were at equal or lesser risk for hospitalization than the non-immunized.

Adolescent↗

Anthrax: a motor protein determines anthrax susceptibility.

A new study has found that polymorphisms in the host gene kif1C, which encodes a kinesin-like motor protein, determine whether mouse macrophages are resistant or sensitive to anthrax lethal toxin. These findings may lead the way to discovering how both germ and host factors might contribute to a lethal infection.

Animals↗

Inhalational anthrax due to bioterrorism: would current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines have identified the 11 patients with inhalational anthrax from October through November 2001?

A panel of 10 physicians used the nominal group technique to assess the ability of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) interim guidelines for clinical evaluation of persons with possible inhalational anthrax (IA) to retrospectively identify the 11 patients with IA seen during the October 2001 bioterrorism outbreak. The guidelines would not have identified 10 of 11 of these patients, primarily because the guidelines were designed to address only those patients with a known history of exposure or clearly identified environmental or occupational risk. The panel suggested revisions to the guidelines, primarily consisting of broadening the criteria for evaluation to include either known exposure or environmental occupational risk, or to include clinical symptoms consistent with IA. These extensions of the guidelines retrospectively identified 8 of 11 of the patients with IA from October 2001.

Anthrax↗

Immunization against anthrax with aromatic compound-dependent (Aro-) mutants of Bacillus anthracis and with recombinant strains of Bacillus subtilis that produce anthrax protective antigen.

The safety and efficacy of five prototype, live anthrax vaccines were studied in Hartley guinea pigs and CBA/J and A/J mice. Two of the strains, Bacillus anthracis FD111 and FD112, are Aro- mutants derived by Tn916 mutagenesis of B. anthracis UM23-1. Bacillus subtilis PA1 and PA2 contain a recombinant plasmid, pPA101 or pPA102, respectively, that carries the gene from B. anthracis encoding synthesis of protective antigen (PA). The final strain, B. subtilis PA7, was isolated in this study from B. subtilis DB104 transformed with pPA101. All five strains were less virulent in guinea pigs and A/J and CBA/J mice than the toxinogenic, nonencapsulated B. anthracis veterinary vaccine Sterne strain. A/J and CBA/J inbred mice represent strains that are innately susceptible and resistant, respectively, to the Sterne strain. These differences in susceptibility are due to differences in ability to produce complement component 5. In guinea pigs, immunization with PA1 or PA2 vegetative cells or PA7 spores protected greater than or equal to 95% from an intramuscular spore challenge with the virulent, "vaccine-resistant" B. anthracis Ames strain. Strain PA2 vegetative cells and strain PA7 spores were as effective as the Sterne strain in Sterne-resistant CBA/J mice, protecting 70% of the mice from Ames strain spore challenge. Immunization with FD111 or FD112 vegetative cells fully protected guinea pigs from challenge. Immunization with FD111 cells protected up to 100% of CBA/J mice and up to 70% of A/J mice.

Animals↗

[Production and study of anthrax antigen. I. Nutrient medium for production of native anthrax protective antigen].

The authors present the results of studies concerning the choice of nutrient bases and elaboration of a medium for obtaining anthrax protective antigen providing an active preparation. Filtrates of crude cultures obtained on the nutrient medium prepared of 3% hydrochloric hydrolyzate of fish flour, corn extract, glucose, sodium bicarbonate and mineral salts proved to be the most active. Tests for determination of usefulness of the culture fluids with the maximum content in them of the protective antigen are recommended.

Anthrax↗

Anthrax lethal factor (LF) mediated block of the anthrax protective antigen (PA) ion channel: effect of ionic strength and voltage.

The anthrax toxin complex consists of three different molecules, protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF). The activated form of PA, PA(63), forms heptamers that insert at low pH in biological membranes forming ion channels and that are necessary to translocate EF and LF in the cell cytosol. LF and EF are intracellular active enzymes that inhibit the host immune system promoting bacterial outgrowth. Here, PA(63) was reconstituted into artificial lipid bilayer membranes and formed ion-permeable channels. The heptameric PA(63) channel contains a binding site for LF on the cis side of the channel. Full-size LF was found to block the PA(63) channel in a dose- and ionic-strength-dependent way with half-saturation constants in the nanomolar concentration range. The binding curves suggest a 1:1 relationship between (PA(63))(7) and bound LF that blocks the channel. The presence of a His(6) tag at the N-terminal end of LF strongly increases the affinity of LF toward the PA(63) channel, indicating that the interaction between LF and the PA(63) channel occurs at the N terminus of the enzyme. The LF-mediated block of the PA(63)-induced membrane conductance is highly asymmetric with respect to the sign of the applied transmembrane potential. The result suggested that the PA(63) heptamers contain a high-affinity binding site for LF inside domain 1 or the channel vestibule and that the binding is ionic-strength-dependent.

Antigens, Bacterial↗