Bartonella as emerging pathogens.
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OBJECTIVE: To study the etiological factors associated with erythema nodosum in children hospitalized between January 1985 and December 2003. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective, descriptive study through review of the medical records of children with a diagnosis of erythema nodosum (MBDS-ICD 9-CM, code 6952). Forty-five patients (27 boys and 18 girls) aged between 10 months and 14 years were studied. The following variables were analyzed: age, sex, associated symptoms, complementary investigations (blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, throat swab, chest x-ray, Mantoux test, ASLO titer, stool culture, serology) and final diagnosis. RESULTS: The most frequent etiology was tuberculosis (10 patients), followed by Salmonella enteritidis (7 patients), group A beta -hemolytic Streptococcus (3 patients), Salmonella typhimurium (2 patients), Campylobacter jejuni (2 patients), Yersinia enterocolitica (1 patient), infectious mononucleosis caused by Epstein Barr virus (1 patient), cat scratch disease (1 patient), BCG vaccination (1 patient), associated chronic hepatitis B infection (1 patient), and associated amoxicillin treatment (1 patient). Etiology was unknown in 15 patients. The last case of erythema nodosum associated with tuberculous infection dated back to 1991, after which the most frequent etiologic factors associated with erythema nodosum were gastrointestinal pathogens. CONCLUSIONS: According to our results, the main etiological factor currently associated with erythema nodosum is gastrointestinal infection. Consequently, stool cultures, especially when there are associated gastrointestinal symptoms, are essential.
UNLABELLED: Palatine and nasopharyngeal tonsils are nonencapsulated nodular masses of lymphoid tissue of the respiratory and digestive tract epithelium. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective clinical study based on the revision of medical records of patients who underwent tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy at Hospital das Clínicas, Medical School, Marília in the period between January 2001 and May 2003. AIM: Analysis of patients' profile and main pathological changes in 250 patients with palatine and nasopharyngeal tonsil hypertrophy, recurrent infections or both. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Histological review of 250 patients who underwent tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy among adults and children. RESULTS: Out of 250 subjects, 117 (46.8%) were female and 133 (53.2%) were male patients. Mean age was 7.3 years, ranging from 2 to 34 years. Main surgical indication was concomitant presence of recurrent infections and hypertrophy of nasopharyngeal and palatine tonsils. Among these patients, 160 (64%) were classified as grades III to IV hypertrophy. Lymphatic or follicular lymphatic hyperplasia was observed in 205 patients (82%); focal inflammation was verified in 45 (18%) subjects. Among those, 2 patients presented squamous cell cysts, 2 had Actinomyces sp colonies and 1 cat scratch disease. DISCUSSION: The results presented in this study suggested a possible correlation between recurrent tonsillitis and palatine tonsil hypertrophy. CONCLUSION: Routine histological study of tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy specimens has a low cost-benefit rate, although, due to legal and ethical issues, physicians may request this type of examination.
We reviewed serological and epidemiological data relating to 1000 consecutive patients from whom specimens were submitted for estimation of bartonella antibodies, using MRL Diagnostics Bartonella IFA IgM and IgG kits. Using 289 control sera, we estimated the specificity of the kits as > or = 99.0%. Evidence of bartonella infection was found in 16.3% of patients examined. Rates varied by patient group: 20% of patients for whom a diagnosis of cat scratch disease (CSD) was considered probable had evidence of infection, as did 10.4% of patients with 'possible CSD', 8.1% of patients with possible bacillary angiomatosis, 18.2% of patients with 'culture negative' endocarditis and 17.6% of patients with possible bartonellosis with ophthalmic involvement. An IgM response was seen in 6.6% of patients and IgG in 15.1%. Cases were more frequent among males than females (18.5% vs. 13.9%). Analysis by age showed that although rates of infection were highest in the decades 0-9 years (19.4%) and 10-19 years (20.7%), they fell only slightly in the next three decades. MRL bartonella kits appears to provide a useful and specific approach to the diagnosis of these infections.
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A retrospective study was carried out of all patients presenting with erythema nodosum over a 3-year period (1994-1997) at the National Skin Centre, Singapore. There were 75 patients, aged 4-70 years with a peak (40%) in the 21-30-year-old age group; 65 were female and 10 were male, giving a female to male ratio of 6.5 : 1. Precipitating factors included viral respiratory tract infections and streptococcal pharyngitis in 20 cases (26%), tuberculosis in two cases (3%), pregnancy in three cases (4%) and miscellaneous conditions: Behcet's syndrome (two cases), gonorrhoea (one case), varicella (one case) and cat-scratch disease (one case). The cause was unknown in 45 cases (60%). The pattern of erythema nodosum in Singapore is similar to that reported in the Western literature except that sarcoidosis and inflammatory bowel disease are uncommon associations.
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Afipia felis is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes some cases of human Cat Scratch Disease. A. felis can survive and multiply in several mammalian cell types, including macrophages, but the precise intracellular compartmentalization of A. felis-containing phagosomes is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that, in murine macrophages, most A. felis-containing phagosomes exclude lysosomal tracer loaded into macrophage lysosomes before, as well as endocytic tracer loaded after, establishment of an infection. Established Afipia-containing phagosomes possess neither early endosomal marker proteins [early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1), Rab5, transferrin receptor, trytophane aspartate containing coat protein (TACO)] nor late endosomal or lysosomal proteins [cathepsin D, beta-glucuronidase, vacuolar proton-pumping ATPase, rab7, mannose-6-phosphate receptor, vesicle-associated membrane protein 8, lysosome-associated membrane proteins LAMP-1 and LAMP-2]. Those bacteria that will be found in a nonendosomal compartment enter the macrophage via an EEA1-negative compartment, which remains negative for LAMP-1. The smaller subpopulation of afipiae whose phagosomes will be part of the endocytic system enters into an EEA1-positive compartment, which also subsequently acquires LAMP-1. Killing of Afipia or opsonization with immune antibodies leads to a strong increase in the percentage of A. felis-containing phagosomes that interact with the endocytic system. We conclude that most phagosomes containing A. felis are disconnected from the endosome-lysosome continuum, that their unusual compartmentalization is decided at uptake, and that this compartmentalization requires bacterial viability.
Several inflammatory processes can cause nodules or swelling in the neck. A complete physical examination and, usually, laboratory testing are required to establish the diagnosis. Common infections include cervical lymphadenitis and tuberculous lymphadenitis, cat-scratch disease, infection in the neck spaces, infectious mononucleosis, and syphilis. Primary or metastatic cancer may also be the cause. Cervical metastasis often presents as a neck mass. Although a primary tumor may not be found immediately when a neck mass is being evaluated, one is often discovered later. Other types of malignancy that may be present are histiocytic lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, rhabdomyosarcoma, thyroid cancer, and a salivary (most often parotid) gland tumor. Symptomatic treatment is sometimes adequate for infectious disease, but administration of antituberculous drugs or antibiotics may also be necessary. Incision and drainage are required for some nodes and abscesses. For neck masses caused by neoplasms, fine-needle aspiration cytology or biopsy is performed. Depending on the diagnosis, treatment consists of dissection, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy.
Eighteen 12-week-old specific pathogen-free cats, blood culture- and serum antibody-negative for Bartonella henselae, were randomly allocated to groups and were intravenously inoculated with 10(10) (group 1), 10(8) (group 2), or 10(6) (group 3) B. henselae or with saline (group 4) or were not inoculated (group 5). Cats were humanely killed at 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 weeks after inoculation. All B. henselae-inoculated cats were bacteremic by 2 weeks after infection. Bacteremia persisted until 32 weeks after infection in 1 cat. Cats in groups 1 and 2 had fever (>39.7 degrees C) and partial anorexia by 2 weeks after infection that lasted 2-7 days. All infected cats had Bartonella-specific IgM and IgG serum antibodies and lymphocyte blastogenic responses. Histopathologic lesions were observed in multiple organs of infected cats through 8 weeks after infection. Cats were readily infected with B. henselae by intravenous inoculation, developed histopathologic lesions that apparently resolved, and developed B and T lymphocyte responses to infection.
We describe an immunocompromised renal transplantation patient with opportunistic lung infection due to Bartonella henselae (formerly Rochalimaea henselae) and provide evidence suggesting transmission from a pet cat. Computed tomographic scans of the chest and lung biopsies provided material for diagnosis. The etiology was established by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing of a 16S ribosomal DNA segment from infected lung tissue. Histopathologic and serological evidence supported the molecular data. B. henselae was isolated from the blood of eight of the patient's many cats. The patient responded to prolonged therapy with doxycycline, and relapse did not occur during a 1-year follow-up. B. henselae joins a long list of pathogens that can cause lung infections in association with cell-mediated immunodeficiency states. Molecular methods are useful in diagnosis of this infection in light of the bacterium's fastidious growth characteristics. If an immunocompromised patient has lung nodules and a history of exposure to cats, B. henselae should be sought in biopsy specimens.
To determine the association between recent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated dementia and serum antibodies to Bartonella (Rochalimaea) henselae, we performed a nested case control study within the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study in Los Angeles. We measured serum IgG and IgM antibodies to B. henselae with use of enzyme immunoassay in 369 HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative participants with and without recent neuropsychological deterioration. Data on pet ownership were also collected. IgM antibodies to B. henselae were strongly associated with neuropsychological decline or dementia (OR = 6.6;95% CI = 1.4-31.9;P = .02). Those participants with IgM antibodies to B. henselae were 1.7 times more likely to develop HIV-associated dementia (HAD) or neuropsychological decline over the next 5 years. At least 4% of the new cases of HAD and neuropsychological decline were due to bartonella infection. Cat ownership was associated with the presence of IgM antibodies to B. henselae (OR = 6.4;95% CI = 1.3-30.8;p = .02) and with neuropsychological decline and dementia (OR = 2.4;95% CI = 1.2-5.1;P = .02). This finding suggests that some cases of HAD and neuropsychological decline are associated with potentially treatable B. henselae infections.
Caged cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché), were fed on 6 cats; 3 cats were injected with 5 x 10(7) colony forming units of Bartonella henselae intradermally and 3 cats were injected with an equal volume of saline. After the fleas fed for 4 d, 5 groups of 50 B. henselae-exposed fleas were caged and allowed to feed on 5 cats for 6 d. Five cats each were injected intradermally with 1 ml of saline containing 45 mg of feces from B. henselae-exposed fleas. Five cats were fed 50 B. henselae-exposed fleas and 45 mg of fresh feces from B. henselae-exposed fleas. Five cats received all 3 treatments by using fleas and feces collected from cats inoculated with saline (controls). Cats were bled weekly and tested by culture and serology. The cats that were injected with feces from infected fleas were positive by culture for B. henselae at 1 or 2 wk after exposure and were the only cats to become bacteremic or seropositive by week 20.
Epithelioid angiomatosis, hemangioma-like vascular proliferations recently described in AIDS patients, has been associated with the cat scratch disease bacillus. Other vascular lesions present in AIDS patients, in particular Kaposi's sarcoma, have been associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV). We investigated the possibility of viral association with epithelioid angiomatosis by analyzing two such lesions, as well as unrelated concurrent skin lesions, for the presence of viral genetic information. Colorimetric in-situ hybridization was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections using cloned biotinylated probes for CMV, herpes simplex virus, human immunodeficiency virus, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The only virus demonstrated was EBV, and this was only in the two epithelioid angiomatosis lesions. Hybridization signal for EBV was present in the nuclei of endothelial cells and occasional histiocytes. Bacilli were demonstrated within one of the lesions by silver stain. This is the first report associating EBV with this entity, and the first-time demonstration of EBV genetic information in endothelial cells. Our data suggest that these vascular lesions may represent a nonspecific response to infection by many different agents, and that EBV may be involved in the pathogenesis of some of these lesions.
Bacillary angiomatosis, a recently characterized pseudoneoplastic vascular proliferation caused by a bacterium identical or related to the cat-scratch disease bacillus, usually presents as cutaneous lesions. We report the histologic findings of this disease involving the lymph nodes of two immunocompromised patients. The lymph nodes showed patchy involvement by coalescent nodules of proliferated blood vessels lined by plump endothelial cells with pale cytoplasm. There were foci exhibiting mild to moderate nuclear atypia. Although neutrophil infiltration was prominent in one case, it was minimal in the other. The interstitium was formed by pink-staining material in hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections, and this proved to be aggregated bacilli on Warthin-Starry stain. Recognition of this potentially fatal disease is important because it is curable with antibiotics.
We report the immunocytochemical identification of Rochalimaea henselae, a newly recognized fastidious, Gram-negative, Warthin-Starry-positive organism, as the common pathogen in bacillary angiomatosis (BA), bacillary peliosis (BP) of the liver and spleen, and persistent fever with bacteremia in immunocompromised patients. Immunogenic proteins of the R. henselae strain isolated from the blood of a febrile immunocompromised patient with BP of the liver were used to produce primary immune serum in rabbits. Using immunocytochemical procedures, the polyclonal antiserum reacted strongly not only with the immunizing strain of the bacteria, but also with other blood isolates of R. henselae (five cases) from both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients and with the organisms present in the tissue lesions of cutaneous BA (five cases) and BP of the liver (two cases) and spleen (one case). The blood isolates and BA and BP tissue samples were obtained from widely separated geographic areas. The antiserum was weakly cross-reactive with cultures of Rochalimaea quintana, an organism closely related to R. henselae, but this reactivity was eliminated by specific adsorption. The antiserum did not cross-react with the Warthin-Starry-positive organisms associated with cat scratch disease (Afipia felis), syphilis (Treponema pallidum), Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) or chronic active gastritis (Helicobacter pylori). Likewise, the antiserum did not identify organisms in eight cases of Kaposi's sarcoma, a disorder of immunocompromised patients that is clinically similar to BA. Further studies are needed to determine the prevalence of this newly recognized organism as well as its possible involvement in other angioproliferative diseases.