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PloS One 2022Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, and people with hypoimmunity such as pregnant women, infants and fetuses are at high risk of invasive infection. Although...
Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, and people with hypoimmunity such as pregnant women, infants and fetuses are at high risk of invasive infection. Although the incidence of listeriosis is low, the fatality rate is high. Therefore, continual surveillance and rapid epidemiological investigation are crucial for addressing L. monocytogenes. Because of the popularity of next-generation sequencing, obtaining the whole-genome sequence of a bacterium is easy. Several genome-based typing methods are available, and core-genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) is the most recognized methods. Using cgMLST typing to compare L. monocytogenes whole-genome sequences (WGS) with those obtained across distinct regions is beneficial. However, the concern is how to incorporate the powerful cgMLST method into investigations, such as by using source tracing. Herein, we present an easy-to-use web service called-LmTraceMap (http://lmtracemap.cgu.edu.tw/hua_map/test/upload.php; http://120.126.17.192/hua_map/test/upload.php) that can help public-health professionals rapidly trace closely related isolates worldwide and visually inspect them in search results on a world map with labeled epidemiological data. We expect the proposed service to improve the convenience of public health investigations.
Topics: Female; Food Microbiology; Genome, Bacterial; Humans; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis; Multilocus Sequence Typing; Pregnancy; Whole Genome Sequencing
PubMed: 35533187
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267972 -
International Journal of Food... Apr 2022Listeria monocytogenes remains a significant public health threat, leading to invasive listeriosis with severe manifestations (i.e. septicemia, meningitis, and abortion)...
Listeria monocytogenes remains a significant public health threat, leading to invasive listeriosis with severe manifestations (i.e. septicemia, meningitis, and abortion) and up to 30% of fatal cases. Here, we aimed to investigate genotypic diversity, virulence profiles, antimicrobial resistance patterns from a large and integrated population of L. monocytogenes isolates in China (n = 369), including food (n = 326), livestock (n = 25), and hospitalized humans (n = 18) over the years (2002-2019). PCR-based serogrouping showed the dominance of serogroup 1/2a-3a (37.4%) in food, 4a-4c (76%) in livestock, and 1/2a-3a (44.4%) in humans. Phylogenetic lineage analysis revealed the dominance of lineage II (63.4%) in food, lineage III (76%) in livestock, and lineage II (55.5%) in humans. Altogether, 369 isolates were grouped into 55 sequence types (STs) via multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), which belonged to 26 clonal complexes (CCs) and 17 singletons. Among various STs, ST9 (26%) was the most abundant in food, ST202 (76%) in livestock, and ST8 (16.6%) in humans. Overall, ST4/CC4, ST218/CC218, and ST619 isolates harbored both LIPI-3 and LIPI-4 genes subsets indicating their hypervirulence potential. Additionally, a low resistance was observed towards tetracycline (5.1%), erythromycin (3.2%), cotrimoxazole (2.9%), chloramphenicol (2.7%), gentamicin (2.4%), and ampicillin (2.1%). Collectively, detection of hypervirulent determinants and antimicrobial-resistant phenotype among Chinese isolates poses an alarming threat to food safety and public health, which requires a continued and enhanced surveillance system for further prevention of human listeriosis.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; China; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Food Microbiology; Genetic Variation; Humans; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis; Livestock; Multilocus Sequence Typing; Phylogeny; Virulence Factors
PubMed: 35176609
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2022.109572 -
The Journal of Maternal-fetal &... Dec 2022Listeriosis is a foodborne disease that occurs in immunocompromised patients. Pregnant women are a high-risk group for the disease. Listeria infection during pregnancy...
OBJECTIVE
Listeriosis is a foodborne disease that occurs in immunocompromised patients. Pregnant women are a high-risk group for the disease. Listeria infection during pregnancy is uncommon in China because of dietary habits, with little clinician attention and minimal therapeutic options due to its population-specific nature.This article studies the clinical characteristics of Listeria infection in pregnant women and the improvement of treatment methods.
SUBJECTS
This study collected clinical data from 16 cases of pregnant patients with laboratory-confirmed infections at the Women and Children's Hospital of Jiaxing University. These data were combined with 77 cases that were reported in the literature for a total of 93 cases of infection in pregnancy that occurred in China over a 15-year interval.
METHODS
We collected the clinical data of 16 pregnant patients with listeriosis diagnosed in the laboratory of the Women and Children's Hospital of Jiaxing University from May 2013 to December 2020, and combined it with 77 cases of during pregnancy in China obtained from a literature search. We summarized the clinical features of listeriosis in pregnancy infection and investigated its treatment methods and prevention.
RESULTS
Ninety-three cases of infection in pregnancy occurred in early, middle and late pregnancy in 31, 27, and 35 patients, respectively. The initial clinical presentation was fever in 90 patients, intermittent lower abdominal pain in 50 patients, and abnormal fetal movement and/or abnormal fetal heartbeat in 27 cases. Specimens with a positive bacterial culture included the following: 6 amniotic fluid cultures, 35 blood cultures, 37 maternal placenta and uterine secretion cultures, and 15 neonatal blood cultures. Fifty-seven cases of placental pathology, all showing of neutrophil infiltration, were 100% consistent with acute chorioamnionitis. Fifty-eight patients were initially treated with cephalosporin antibiotics, and only 24 cases were initially treated with broad-spectrum penicillins to cover the pathogenic bacteria. Drug sensitivity tests revealed resistant strains, 15 penicillin G-resistant, 14 oxacillin-resistant, and 13 ampicillin-resistant strains. After penicillin failure, vancomycin or meropenem was given. Maternal outcomes included the following: 20 cases of sepsis, 3 cases of pneumonia, 6 cases of acute pyelonephritis, 28 cases of intrauterine infection, 2 cases of multiple organ dysfunction syndromes, and 1 case of septic shock. The fetal and neonatal outcomes were as follows: 16 cases of abortion, 16 cases of intrauterine fetal death, 22 cases of death after birth, and 39 cases of cure.
CONCLUSION
In our study and reported cases, in pregnancy is associated with fever as the primary manifestation, a high incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, and a significant increase in fetal and neonatal mortality. The low coverage of practical use of antimicrobial drugs and the emergence of drug-resistant strains in recent years have increased the difficulty of treatment, suggesting the need for clinicians to raise awareness of the disease and strengthen healthy diet promotion for women in pregnancy.
Topics: Infant, Newborn; Child; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Placenta; Listeriosis; Listeria monocytogenes; Pregnancy Outcome; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; China
PubMed: 35264053
DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2022.2047925 -
Environmental persistence of Listeria monocytogenes and its implications in dairy processing plants.Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science... Nov 2023Listeriosis, an invasive illness with a fatality rate between 20% and 30%, is caused by the ubiquitous bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Human listeriosis has long been... (Review)
Review
Listeriosis, an invasive illness with a fatality rate between 20% and 30%, is caused by the ubiquitous bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Human listeriosis has long been associated with foods. This is because the ubiquitous nature of the bacteria renders it a common food contaminant, posing a significant risk to the food processing sector. Although several sophisticated stress coping mechanisms have been identified as significant contributing factors toward the pathogen's persistence, a complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying persistence across various strains remains limited. Moreover, aside from genetic aspects that promote the ability to cope with stress, various environmental factors that exist in food manufacturing plants could also contribute to the persistence of the pathogen. The objective of this review is to provide insight into the challenges faced by the dairy industry because of the pathogens' environmental persistence. Additionally, it also aims to emphasize the diverse adaptation and response mechanisms utilized by L. monocytogenes in food manufacturing plants to evade environmental stressors. The persistence of L. monocytogenes in the food processing environment poses a serious threat to food safety and public health. The emergence of areas with high levels of L. monocytogenes contamination could facilitate Listeria transmission through aerosols, potentially leading to the recontamination of food, particularly from floors and drains, when sanitation is implemented alongside product manufacturing. Hence, to produce safe dairy products and reduce the frequency of outbreaks of listeriosis, it is crucial to understand the factors that contribute to the persistence of this pathogen and to implement efficient control strategies.
Topics: Humans; Listeria monocytogenes; Food Microbiology; Food Contamination; Listeriosis; Public Health
PubMed: 37680027
DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.13234 -
Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy Feb 2024Memory CD8 T cell generation is crucial for pathogen elimination and effective vaccination against infection. The cellular and molecular circuitry that underlies the...
Memory CD8 T cell generation is crucial for pathogen elimination and effective vaccination against infection. The cellular and molecular circuitry that underlies the generation of memory CD8 T cells remains elusive. Eosinophils can modulate inflammatory allergic responses and interact with lymphocytes to regulate their functions in immune defense. Here we report that eosinophils are required for the generation of memory CD8 T cells by inhibiting CD8 T cell apoptosis. Eosinophil-deficient mice display significantly impaired memory CD8 T cell response and weakened resistance against Listeria monocytogenes (L.m.) infection. Mechanistically, eosinophils secrete interleukin-4 (IL-4) to inhibit JNK/Caspase-3 dependent apoptosis of CD8 T cells upon L.m. infection in vitro. Furthermore, active eosinophils are recruited into the spleen and secrete more IL-4 to suppress CD8 T cell apoptosis during early stage of L.m. infection in vivo. Adoptive transfer of wild-type (WT) eosinophils but not IL-4-deficient eosinophils into eosinophil-deficient mice could rescue the impaired CD8 T cell memory responses. Together, our findings suggest that eosinophil-derived IL-4 promotes the generation of CD8 T cell memory and enhances immune defense against L.m. infection. Our study reveals a new adjuvant role of eosinophils in memory T cell generation and provides clues for enhancing the vaccine potency via targeting eosinophils and related cytokines.
Topics: Mice; Animals; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Listeriosis; Interleukin-4; Eosinophils; Memory T Cells
PubMed: 38413575
DOI: 10.1038/s41392-024-01752-0 -
Molecular Microbiology Mar 2020The universe of Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis is filled with many female and male stars. But there are two particularly bright shining supernovae-like stars: the late...
The universe of Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis is filled with many female and male stars. But there are two particularly bright shining supernovae-like stars: the late Stanley Falkow and the very lively and creative Pascale Cossart. These two outstanding luminaries, surrounded by numerous planets, do not only belong to different scientific generations but their splendor also comes from very different scientific concepts. Stanley Falkow, often referred to as the 'Father of Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis', made many groundbreaking contributions to this field by addressing almost all important bacterial pathogens. Pascale Cossart, who could be called in analogy the 'Queen of Modern Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis' by combining the Microbiology and Cell Biology, concentrates in her similarly impressive scientific work essentially on a single bacterial species which she studied and still studies in great depth: the facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes-and the vast majority of her most prominent publications deals with this pathogen in almost all facets. It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that she together with her co-workers and collaborators developed this model bacterium into a paradigm among the intracellular bacterial pathogens.
Topics: Female; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis; Virulence; Virulence Factors
PubMed: 32185837
DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14450 -
Veterinary Pathology Mar 2022The bacterium () is widely distributed in the environment as a saprophyte, but may turn into a lethal intracellular pathogen upon ingestion. Invasive infections occur... (Review)
Review
The bacterium () is widely distributed in the environment as a saprophyte, but may turn into a lethal intracellular pathogen upon ingestion. Invasive infections occur in numerous species worldwide, but most commonly in humans and farmed ruminants, and manifest as distinct forms. Of those, neuroinfection is remarkably threatening due to its high mortality. is widely studied not only as a pathogen but also as an essential model for intracellular infections and host-pathogen interactions. Many aspects of its ecology and pathogenesis, however, remain unclear and are rarely addressed in its natural hosts. This review highlights the heterogeneity and adaptability of by summarizing its association with the environment, farm animals, and disease. It also provides current knowledge on key features of the pathology and (molecular) pathogenesis of various listeriosis forms in naturally susceptible species with a special focus on ruminants and on the neuroinvasive form of the disease. Moreover, knowledge gaps on pathomechanisms of listerial infections and relevant unexplored topics in pathogenesis research are highlighted.
Topics: Animals; Farms; Goat Diseases; Goats; Humans; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis; Ruminants
PubMed: 34856818
DOI: 10.1177/03009858211052659 -
Science Immunology Jul 2022During pregnancy, sialic acid on antibodies can be deacetylated, sanctioning these antibodies to mediate protection in the newborn.
During pregnancy, sialic acid on antibodies can be deacetylated, sanctioning these antibodies to mediate protection in the newborn.
Topics: Antibodies, Bacterial; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis; Pregnancy
PubMed: 35776805
DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.add6618 -
The Lancet. Infectious Diseases Feb 2022
Topics: Brain; Food Microbiology; Humans; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis
PubMed: 35092802
DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00683-6 -
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2021For assessing isolates of Listeria monocytogenes, serotype designation is the first subtyping method used. Methodologies used to assign serotype are currently evolving...
For assessing isolates of Listeria monocytogenes, serotype designation is the first subtyping method used. Methodologies used to assign serotype are currently evolving and will eventually be replaced with whole genome sequencing. Traditionally, serotyping has been done with agglutination reactions; however, alternative methods utilizing enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are common. Described here are the three non-genomic methods and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Topics: Agglutination Tests; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Humans; Listeria monocytogenes; Listeriosis; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Serotyping
PubMed: 32975766
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0982-8_5