Selective Inhibition of Coxiella burnetii Replication by the Steroid Hormone Progesterone.

ABSTRACT: Coxiella burnetii is a zoonotic bacterial obligate intracellular parasite and the cause of query (Q) fever. During natural infection of female animals, C. burnetii shows tropism for the placenta and is associated with late-term abortion, at which time the pathogen titer in placental tissue can exceed one billion bacteria per gram. During later stages of pregnancy, placental trophoblasts serve as the major source of progesterone, a steroid hormone known to affect the replication of some pathogens. During infection of placenta-derived JEG-3 cells, C. burnetii showed sensitivity to progesterone but not the immediate precursor pregnenolone or estrogen, another major mammalian steroid hormone. Using host cell-free culture, progesterone was determined to have a direct inhibi

SUBMITTER: Howard ZP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7671902 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature