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At least 919 records · Page 51Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

New serotype of Bartonella henselae in endocarditis and cat-scratch disease.

BACKGROUND: The fastidious nature of Bartonella henselae is such that demonstration of clinical infection relies mainly on serological or molecular biological methods. Only five isolates have been obtained from patients with cat-scratch disease (CSD) and none from endocarditis. METHODS: We isolated B henselae from a CSD patient and, for the first time, from a patient with endocarditis. The isolates were characterised on the basis of morphology, biochemistry, cell-wall fatty-acid analysis, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the 16-23S intragenic spacer region, and 16S rRNA gene sequences. Characterisation of these isolates indicated them to belong to a new serogroup, which we have called "Marseille", and to a new genotype based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence. The new variant was incorporated into an immuno-fluorescence antibody test (IFAT), which was used to reassess serum samples from 113 CSD patients who were seronegative with the conventional IFAT. FINDINGS: 18 (16%) of these apparently seronegative patients yielded significantly raised titres. 20 CSD patients who were seropositive as judged by the conventional IFAT remained seropositive with the new IFAT. INTERPRETATION: Antigenic variability within the species is one possible reason for inconsistent results in the serological diagnosis of CSD.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Comparative seroreactivity to Bartonella henselae and Bartonella quintana among cats from Israel and North Carolina.

Bartonella henselae, the predominant cause of cat scratch disease, and Bartonella quintana, the cause of trench fever, are closely related Bartonella species that induce cross-reactivity when cat or human sera are tested using an indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test. Cats are the natural reservoir for B. henselae, whereas a mammalian reservoir host for B. quintana has not been identified. Serum samples from 114 cats from Israel and 114 cats from North Carolina were tested by IFA for seroreactivity to B. henselae and B. quintana antigens. Similar numbers of cats from Israel [45 (39.5%)] and from North Carolina [46(40.4%)] were seroreactive to both antigens, however, as compared to cats from North Carolina [8 (7%)], a significantly (P = 0.001) larger number of cats from Israel were seroreactive to B. quintana antigen only [23 (20.2%)]. In addition, mean antibody titers were lower to B. henselae than to B. quintana (P = 0.0001) in the cats from Israel, whereas similar mean titers to both antigens were identified in cats from North Carolina. Absorption of serum using whole B. henselae organisms resulted in a significantly greater (P = 0.0001) decrease in antibody titer to B. henselae between absorbed and non-absorbed sera, as compared to the decrease in antibody titer following absorption with whole B. quintana organisms. There was a similar decrease in antibody titer in sera from cats experimentally infected with B. henselae and in cats naturally exposed to Bartonella species from Israel and North Carolina. Our results indicate that absorption of serum will, in most instances, distinguish species-specific reactivity by IFA to B. henselae from cross-reactivity to B. quintana in cats experimentally infected with B. henselae. The data support the conclusion that B. henselae is the principal Bartonella species responsible for seroreactivity against B. henselae and B. quintana in naturally exposed cats from Israel or North Carolina. It also suggests that in Israel, cats are exposed to one or more antigenically different Bartonella species, sub-species or strains, that seroreact by IFA more intensely with B. quintana antigen.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Presumed ocular bartonellosis.

BACKGROUND: The spectrum of diseases caused by Bartonella henselae continues to expand and ocular involvement during this infection is being diagnosed with increasing frequency. METHODS: The clinical features and visual prognosis for 13 patients with intraocular inflammatory disease and laboratory evidence of bartonellosis were investigated. There were nine patients with neuroretinitis and four with panuveitis with positive antibody titres against B henselae determined by an enzyme immunoassay (IgG exceeding 1:900 and/or IgM exceeding 1:250). RESULTS: Positive IgG levels were found for eight patients and positive IgM levels for five. Despite animal exposure of 10 patients, only two (IgG positive) cases had systemic symptoms consistent with the diagnosis of cat scratch disease. Pathological fluorescein leakage of the optic disc was observed in all affected eyes. At 6 months' follow up, 3/18 (17%) affected eyes had a visual acuity of less than 20/100, owing to optic disc atrophy and cystoid macular oedema. 12 patients (17 eyes) were treated with antibiotics; visual acuity improved two or more Snellen lines for 9/17 (53%) eyes. CONCLUSIONS: The possibility of B henselae infection should be considered in patients with neuroretinitis and panuveitis (especially in cases with associated optic nerve involvement) even in the absence of systemic symptoms typical for cat scratch disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Comparison of different DNA fingerprinting techniques for molecular typing of Bartonella henselae isolates.

Seventeen isolates of Bartonella henselae from the region of Freiburg, Germany, obtained from blood cultures of domestic cats, were examined for their genetic heterogeneity. On the basis of different DNA fingerprinting methods, including pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR, repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) PCR, and arbitrarily primed (AP)-PCR, three different variants were identified among the isolates (variants I to III). Variant I included 6 strains, variant II included 10 strains, and variant III included only one strain. By all methods used, the isolates could be clearly distinguished from the type strain, Houston-1, which was designated variant IV. A previously published type-specific amplification of 16S rDNA differentiated two types of the B. henselae isolates (16S rRNA types 1 and 2). The majority of the isolates (16 of 17), including all variants I and II, were 16S rRNA type 2. Only one isolate (variant III) and the Houston-1 strain (variant IV) comprised the 16S rRNA type 1. Comparison of the 16S rDNA sequences from one representative strain from each of the three variants (I to III) confirmed the results obtained by 16S rRNA type-specific PCR. The sequences from variant I and variant II were identical, whereas the sequence of variant III differed in three positions. All methods applied in this study allowed subtyping of the isolates. PFGE and ERIC-PCR provided the highest discriminatory potential for subtyping B. henselae strains, whereas AP-PCR with the M13 primer showed a very clear differentiation between the four variants. Our results suggest that the genetic heterogeneity of B. henselae strains is high. The methods applied were found useful for typing B. henselae isolates, providing tools for epidemiological and clinical follow-up studies.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1995

[Bacillary angiomatosis].

Bacillary angiomatosis (BA) is a rare infectious disease usually associated with HIV infection. Recent molecular biologic investigations confirm that both Rochalimaea henselae and Rochalimaea quintana can cause BA. The bacteria can be identified by Warthin-Starry staining and electron microscopy. The typical clinical signs are solitary or multiple dermal or subcutaneous nodules. Bone, liver, spleen and other organs may also be involved. We describe the clinical and histological features of a 39-year-old HIV-infected patient with cutaneous and bony lesions of BA. All manifestations of BA disappeared during therapy with erythromycin.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1996

Bacillary angiomatosis of the cervix and vulva in a patient with AIDS.

BACKGROUND: Bacillary angiomatosis is a clinicopathologic entity that most often is identified in the skin of patients with AIDS. This report presents an example of bacillary angiomatosis of the female genital tract. CASE: Bacillary angiomatosis presented as red-purple nodules of the vulva and cervix in a 32-year-old woman with AIDS. Histologic examination revealed the lobular epithelioid vascular proliferation and hazy clumps of bacteria that characterize bacillary angiomatosis. The diagnosis was confirmed on Warthin-Starry-stained issue and by blood cultures, which were positive for Bartonella (Rochalimaea) henselae. CONCLUSION: Accurate diagnosis of this infection is important because 1) bacillary angiomatosis is commonly mistaken for Kaposi sarcoma, 2) it is effectively treated with inexpensive antibiotics, and 3) undiagnosed and/or untreated bacillary angiomatosis may lead to overwhelming disseminated infection and death.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1994

Histological and ultrastructural study of one case of oral bacillary angiomatosis in HIV disease and review of the literature.

Bacillary angiomatosis (BA) is a new clinicopathological entity defined as a pseudo-neoplastic capillary proliferation secondary to an opportunistic infection by one of two Rochalimaea sp.: R. quintana or R. henselae. Although BA is a recently recognised entity, numerous cases have been reported. Most of the patients affected are reported to have low absolute CD4 lymphocyte counts associated with AIDS. Yet, very few oral cases associated or not with cutaneous lesions have been reported or simply identified. Histopathological and ultrastructural features of one case of oral BA with gingival and palatal lesions are presented. Clinical aspects of oral BA do not hold pathognomonic features and the lesions may resemble either a reactive lesion of the gingiva, pyogenic granuloma or Kaposi's sarcoma. The lesion is characteristically composed of circumscribed lobular capillary proliferations and the presence of granular amphophilic material on haematoxylin and eosin sections surrounded by neutrophils and neutrophilic debris is a clue to diagnosis. Demonstration of bacilli in the interstitium by the Warthin-Starry silver method or, better, by electron microscopy is diagnostic. BA may contribute to the death of the patient but erythromycin has proved to be very effective treatment.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2006

Do dogs harbour risk factors for human breast cancer?

We ask consulting patients regularly whether they keep pets in order to identify zoonotic factors. It became apparent that patients with breast carcinoma (N=69) owned significantly more often dogs but not cats compared to age matched female controls. We compared the frequencies of dog and pet ownership with data from public available statistics on women (N=1320) of the same age group in Bavaria. The most striking result was that more than twice the number of patients kept dogs permanently in the last 10 years and at the time of interrogation as compared to control individuals at the time of interrogation (p=0.0000003, relative risk 3.5). Further internet search on the morbidity of breast carcinoma showed in dogs a protracted course of disease and metastases into lung, liver and bones, resembling the course of disease in human breast cancer. In contrast with this, breast cancer presented in cats a dramatically short course and the main but unusual location of metastasis presents in the hind legs. A recent publication in Norway reported on a high frequency (53.3%) of breast carcinomas in 14,401 investigated dogs. Which transmissible factor or factors come into question? Variants of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) can productively replicate in human cells and in different animals, including dogs. Many investigators, but not all, could identify MMTV-like sequences in sporadic human breast cancer. MMTV or MMTV-like sequences have not been investigated in canine breast carcinomas until now. It is also conceivable that other microbes from the dog, for example bacteria, could participate in the first steps of carcinogenesis in human. It was recently shown that bartonella species promote vascularization and prevent apoptosis of infected cells with the same methods as helicobacter pylori. Our considerations require further research. Epidemiologic cohort studies and identification of potential carcinogenic microbial factors will prove or disprove our hypothesis that risk factors from dogs could contribute to the carcinogenesis of human breast cancer.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Epilepsia partialis continua in cat scratch disease.

Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a world-wide, diffuse, non-epidemic infection caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Bartonella henselae. The occurrence of encephalopathy represents an infrequent and atypical complication, whose manifestations include ischemic strokes, transverse myelitis and epileptic seizures. Status epilepticus has been described as the most frequent emergency in CSD encephalopathy. In this report, we describe a case of CSD complicated by an epilepsia partialis continua (EPC) manifested as rhythmic movements of the flexor muscles of the left hand. Although CSD is a benign, self-limited disease and a complete neurological recovery usually occurs, in the present case the EPC resulted in a partial epilepsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and back-averaged EEG data recorded during myoclonic activity document this CSD complication.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Serologic cross-reactions among Ehrlichia equi, Ehrlichia phagocytophila, and human granulocytic Ehrlichia.

Homology in the 16S rDNAs shows that the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is closely related to the veterinary pathogens Erlichia equi and Erlichia phagocytophila. After HGE, patients develop antibodies reactive with E. equi and E. phagocytophila; thus, we hypothesized that these species are closely related and share significant antigenicity. Antisera from humans, horses, dogs, and cattle were tested by indirect fluorescent-antibody assay (IFA) for antibodies reactive with E. equi and other ehrlichiae and tested by immunoblot to identify the specific reactions with E. equi. All convalescent-phase sera from human patients with HGE and from animals infected or immunized with E. equi or E. phagocytophila had antibodies reactive with E. equi by IFA; no reactions with Ehrlichia chaffeensis occurred with these sera, and only one horse naturally infected with E. equi had a serologic reaction against Ehrlichia sennetsu. Human and animal sera obtained after infection or immunization with other Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Bartonella species did not react with E. equi by IFA. E. equi immunoblots revealed as many as 19 bands with equine anti-E. equi serum. All HGE agent, E. equi, and E. phagocytophila antisera tested reacted with a 44-kDa antigen of E. equi, while other anti-Ehrlichia spp. sera reacted with this antigen rarely or not at all. HGE agent, E. equi, and E. phagocytophila antisera but not other sera also reacted occasionally with 25-, 42-, and 100-kDa antigens. Most sera reacted with antigens between approximately 56 and 75 kDa, probably heat shock proteins. The HGE agent, E. equi, and E. phagocytophila share significant antigenicity by IFA and immunoblot. Coupled with the nearly identical nucleotide sequences of 16S rRNA genes, these data indicate that E. equi, E. phagocytophila, and the human granulocytic ehrlichia are closely related or identical species.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

[The course of trypanosoma cruzi infection in nonsplenectomized SPE rats with and without Haemobartonella muris infection (author's transl)].

Rats were infected with H. muris from the first to the second week of their life. Four weeks later 20 of the infected rats were inoculated with 1.5 x 10(5) T. cruzi. Control animals were given the same number of parasites. In both experimental groups no hemoflagellate could be seen in blood smears four weeks after infection. The comparison of the course of infection of T. cruzi in rats with and without H. muris was made using t- and Wilcoxon-Test for Pair Differences. Rats with H. muris infections showed a low development of T. cruzi up to the 16th day of infection with this flagellate (P less than 0.0005). This difference in the development of the trypanosomes is lost from the 17th to the 27th day after infection.

Anaplasmataceae↗
PubMed1997

[Cat-scratch disease. A report of 4 cases and a review of the literature].

Four cases of cat-scratch diseases are here reported and a review of the literature is made. The disease, apart from its typical presentation form as a usually self-limited regional lymph node enlargement, can occasionally spread and involve several organs systems. Indirect immunofluorescence serological tests have been of help for its diagnosis and should be included among the diagnostic criteria for the disease. In particular cases, nuclear magnetic resonance can be useful to suggests the diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Autocrine role for interleukin-8 in Bartonella henselae-induced angiogenesis.

The gram-negative bacterium Bartonella henselae is capable of causing angiogenic lesions as a result of infection. Previously, it has been shown that B. henselae infection can result in production of the chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8). In this study, we demonstrated that monocytes, endothelial cells, and hepatocytes produce IL-8 in response to B. henselae infection. We also investigated the role of IL-8 in B. henselae-induced endothelial cell proliferation and capillary tube formation. Both in vitro angiogenesis assays were IL-8 dependent. B. henselae-mediated inhibition of apoptosis, as indicated by gene expression of Bax and Bcl-2, was also shown to be IL-8 dependent in endothelial cells. Furthermore, infection of endothelial cells with B. henselae stimulated upregulation of the IL-8 chemokine receptor CXCR2. Infection of human endothelial cells by B. henselae resulting in IL-8 production likely plays a central role in the ability of this organism to cause angiogenesis during infection.

Angiomatosis, Bacillary↗
PubMed1996

Antibodies to Bartonella species in inner-city intravenous drug users in Baltimore, Md.

BACKGROUND: Bartonella quintana has recently been associated with homeless alcoholic men. Both B quintana and Bartonella henselae have been shown to be opportunistic pathogens of people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The reservoirs and modes of transmission of these infections are incompletely known. OBJECTIVES: To examine serum samples that were taken from inner-city intravenous (IV) drug users for antibodies to Bartonella organisms to determine whether there is an urban transmission cycle for Bartonella species and to examine the demographic and behavioral characteristics of IV drug users to identify possible risk factors for infection with any of these agents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A serologic survey was conducted, using a convenience sample of serum specimens collected during a study of IV drug use and human immunodeficiency virus infection among 630 inner-city residents in Baltimore, Md. A detailed questionnaire was administered at the initial collection of serum, and additional serum collections and questionnaire updates were made at 6-month intervals. The most recent available serum sample was tested for Bartonella antibody titer by using the indirect immunofluorescent antibody test with 3 antigens: Bartonella elizabethae, B henselae, and B quintana. Univariate and multivariate analyses of selected potential demographic and behavioral risk factors were conducted. RESULTS: Antibodies to Bartonella were highly prevalent in this group; more than 37% of all samples reacted with at least 1 antigen. Overall seroprevalence of antibodies to B elizabethae, B henselae, and B quintana was 33%, 11%, and 10%, respectively. Current IV drug use, frequency of injection, and seronegative human immunodeficiency virus status were significantly associated with Bartonella antibody presence, but these associations varied by analysis. There was a significant inverse association of antibody prevalence to B henselae and B quintana by using CD4+ cell counts among human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous drug users have an elevated prevalence of antibodies to Bartonella organisms and may be at significant risk of becoming infected. Current IV drug use, high frequency of injection, and seronegative human immunodeficiency virus status are significant risk factors for an increased prevalence of Bartonella antibodies. The current natural histories of Bartonella species are rapidly changing, and mechanisms of transmission remain unknown.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Bartonella quintana in human erythrocytes.

Bartonella quintana is transmitted by body lice among homeless people. Infection with this organism leads to chronic bacteraemia with few symptoms. We looked for B quintana in erythrocytes in a population of homeless people in Marseille, France. In this report we show the intraerythrocytic presence of B quintana in people with symptomless bacteraemia, by use of a specific monoclonal antibody and laser confocal microscopy. Presence of at least 5 x 10(4) colony-forming units per mL was predictive of intracellular infection. However, such infection was not associated with evidence of haemolysis. Colonisation of erythrocytes could allow efficient transmission of B quintana by body lice.

Bacteremia↗
PubMed2005

Bacillary angiomatosis caused by Bartonella quintana.

Bacillary angiomatosis is a disorder of neovascular proliferation involving skin and lymph nodes of immunosuppressed patients. Bartonella henselae or Bartonella quintana have been inculpated as causative by direct culture or PCR amplification of DNA sequences. Here, we report the clinical evolution of a patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) whose B. quintana infection was diagnosed by PCR.

Angiomatosis, Bacillary↗