Alive Pathogenic and Saprophytic Leptospires Enter and Exit Human and Mouse Macrophages With No Intracellular Replication.

ABSTRACT: Leptospira interrogans are pathogenic bacteria responsible for leptospirosis, a zoonosis impacting 1 million people per year worldwide. Leptospires can infect all vertebrates, but not all hosts develop similar symptoms. Human and cattle may suffer from mild to acute illnesses and are therefore considered as sensitive to leptospirosis. In contrast, mice and rats remain asymptomatic upon infection, although they get chronically colonized in their kidneys. Upon infection, leptospires are stealth pathogens that partially escape the recognition by the host innate immune system. Although leptospires are mainly extracellular bacteria, it was suggested that they could also replicate within macrophages. However, contradictory data in the current literature led us to reevaluate these f

SUBMITTER: Santecchia I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9310662 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature