IFNγ Enhances CD64-Potentiated Phagocytosis of Treponema pallidum Opsonized with Human Syphilitic Serum by Human Macrophages.

ABSTRACT: Syphilis is a multi-stage, sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum (Tp). Considered broadly, syphilis can be conceptualized as a dualistic process in which spirochete-driven inflammation, the cause of clinical manifestations, coexists to varying extents with bacterial persistence. Inflammation is elicited in the tissues, along with the persistence of spirochetes to keep driving a robust immune response while evading host defenses; this duality is best exemplified during the florid, disseminated stage called secondary syphilis (SS). SS lesions typically contain copious amounts of spirochetes along with a mixed cellular infiltrate consisting of CD4⁺ T cells, CD8⁺ T cells, NK cells, plasma cells, and macrophages. In the rabb

SUBMITTER: Hawley KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5633599 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature