Inflammatory cytokine profile and T cell responses in African tick bite fever patients.

African tick bite fever, an acute febrile illness, is caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia africae. Immune responses to rickettsial infections have so far mainly been investigated in vitro with infected endothelial cells as the main target cells, and in mouse models. Patient studies are rare and little is known about the immunology of human infections. In this study, inflammatory mediators and T cell responses were examined in samples from 13 patients with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed R. africae infections at different time points of illness. The Th1-associated cytokines IFNγ and IL-12 were increased in the acute phase of illness, as were levels of the T cell chemoattractant cytokine CXCL-10. In addition, the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and also IL-22 were elevated. IL-22 but not IFNγ was increasingly produced by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells during illness. Besides IFNγ, IL-22 appears to play a protective role in rickettsial infections.

Typhus Group Rickettsiosis, Germany, 2010-20171.

Typhus group rickettsiosis is caused by the vectorborne bacteria Rickettsia typhi and R. prowazekii. R. typhi, which causes murine typhus, the less severe endemic form of typhus, is transmitted by fleas; R. prowazekii, which causes the severe epidemic form of typhus, is transmitted by body lice. To examine the immunology of human infection with typhus group rickettsiae, we retrospectively reviewed clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory changes, and travel destinations of 28 patients who had typhus group rickettsiosis diagnosed by the German Reference Center for Tropical Pathogens, Hamburg, Germany, during 2010-2017. Immunofluorescence assays of follow-up serum samples indicated simultaneous seroconversion of IgM, IgA, and IgG or concurrence in the first serum sample. Cytokine levels peaked during the second week of infection, coinciding with organ dysfunction and seroconversion. For 3 patients, R. typhi was detected by species-specific nested quantitative PCR. For all 28 patients, R. typhi was the most likely causative pathogen.

Human Borna disease virus 1 encephalitis shows marked pro-inflammatory biomarker and tissue immunoactivation during the course of disease.

Human Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1) encephalitis is a severe emerging disease with a very high case-fatality rate. While the clinical disease, case definitions, diagnostic algorithms and neuropathology have been described, very little is known about the immunological processes of human BoDV-1 encephalitis. Here, we analyzed serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 10 patients with fatal BoDV-1 encephalitis for changes of different cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and other biomarkers over time. From one of these individuals, also autoptic formalin-fixed brain tissue was analyzed for the expression of inflammatory biomarkers by mRNA levels and immunostaining; in a further patient, only formalin-fixed brain tissue was available and examined in addition. A marked and increasing immune activation from the initial phase to the last phase of acute BoDV-1 encephalitis is shown in serum and CSF, characterized by cytokine concentration changes (IFNγ, IL-5, IL-6, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-13, IL-18, TGF-ß1) with a predominantly pro-inflammatory pattern over time. IFNγ production was demonstrated in endothelial cells, astrocytes and microglia, IL-6 in activated microglia, and TGF-ß1 in endothelial cells, activated astrocytes and microglia. This was paralleled by an increase of chemokines (CCL-2, CCL-5, CXCL-10, IL-8) to attract immune cells to the site of infection, contributing to inflammation and tissue damage. Pathologically low growth factor levels (BDNF, ß-NGF, PDGF) were seen. Changed levels of arginase and sTREM further fostered the pro-inflammatory state. This dysbalanced, pro-inflammatory state likely contributes importantly to the fatal outcome of human BoDV-1 encephalitis, and might be a key target for possible treatment attempts.

GroEL is an immunodominant surface-exposed antigen of Rickettsia typhi.

Rickettsioses are neglected and emerging potentially fatal febrile diseases that are caused by obligate intracellular bacteria, rickettsiae. Rickettsia (R.) typhi and R. prowazekii constitute the typhus group (TG) of rickettsiae and are the causative agents of endemic and epidemic typhus, respectively. We recently generated a monoclonal antibody (BNI52) against R. typhi. Characterization of BNI52 revealed that it specifically recognizes TG rickettsiae but not the members of the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae. We further show that BNI52 binds to protein fragments of ±30 kDa that are exposed on the bacterial surface and also present in the periplasmic space. These protein fragments apparently derive from the cytosolic GroEL protein of R. typhi and are also recognized by antibodies in the sera from patients and infected mice. Furthermore, BNI52 opsonizes the bacteria for the uptake by antigen presenting cells (APC), indicating a contribution of GroEL-specific antibodies to protective immunity. Finally, it is interesting that the GroEL protein belongs to 32 proteins that are differentially downregulated by R. typhi after passage through immunodeficient BALB/c CB17 SCID mice. This could be a hint that the rickettsia GroEL protein may have immunomodulatory properties as shown for the homologous protein from several other bacteria, too. Overall, the results of this study provide evidence that GroEL represents an immunodominant antigen of TG rickettsiae that is recognized by the humoral immune response against these pathogens and that may be interesting as a vaccine candidate. Apart from that, the BNI52 antibody represents a new tool for specific detection of TG rickettsiae in various diagnostic and experimental setups.

Complex Cytokine Responses in Imported Scrub Typhus Cases, Germany, 2010-2018.

Scrub typhus is a life-threatening zoonotic disease, which is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, an obligatory intracellular Gram-negative bacterium. It is transmitted by Leptotrombidium mites in endemic regions of Southeast Asia. So far, data on imported scrub typhus cases to non-endemic areas and immunological descriptions are rare. Eleven scrub typhus cases that had been diagnosed by the German National Reference Center for Tropical Pathogens between 2010 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed for clinical symptoms, laboratory changes, and travel destinations. Patient sera were included if follow-up samples showed simultaneous seroconversion for IgM and IgG antibody responses by immunofluorescence assays or concurrence with the first serum sample. The median of seroconversion was week 2 after symptom onset. Cytokine levels were measured over time, demonstrating simultaneously upregulated major Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines in the acute phase of infection followed by normalization during convalescence. This study underlines the complex mixed cytokine response elicited by scrub typhus and highlights clinical and diagnostic aspects of imported infections with O. tsutsugamushi.