Kadioglu A, Gingles N A, Grattan K, Kerr A, Mitchell T J, Andrew P W
Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.
Infect Immun. 2000 Feb;68(2):492-501. doi: 10.1128/IAI.68.2.492-501.2000.
Although there is substantial evidence that pneumolysin is an important virulence factor in pneumococcal pneumonia, relatively little is known about how it influences cellular infiltration into the lungs. We investigated how the inability of mutant pneumococci to produce pneumolysin altered the pattern of inflammation and cellular infiltration into the lungs. The effect on bacterial growth in the lungs also was assessed. There were three phases of growth of wild-type bacteria in the lungs: a decline followed by a rapid increase and then stasis or decline. The absence of pneumolysin was associated with a more rapid early decline and then a much slower increase in numbers. The pattern of inflammatory-cell accumulation also had distinct stages, and the timing of these stages was influenced by the presence of pneumolysin. Neutrophils began to accumulate about 12 to 16 h after infection with wild-type pneumococci. This accumulation occurred after the early decline in pneumococcal numbers but coincided with the period of rapid growth. Following infection with pneumococci unable to make pneumolysin, neutrophil influx was slower and less intense. Coincident with the third stage of pneumococcal growth was an accumulation of T and B lymphocytes at the sites of inflammation, but the accumulation was not associated with an increase in the total number of lymphocytes in the lungs. Lymphocyte accumulation in the absence of pneumolysin occurred but was delayed.
尽管有大量证据表明肺炎溶血素是肺炎球菌肺炎的一种重要毒力因子，但对于它如何影响肺部的细胞浸润却知之甚少。我们研究了突变肺炎球菌无法产生肺炎溶血素是如何改变肺部炎症和细胞浸润模式的。还评估了其对肺部细菌生长的影响。野生型细菌在肺部有三个生长阶段：先是下降，接着快速增加，然后停滞或下降。缺乏肺炎溶血素与早期更快的下降以及随后数量更缓慢的增加有关。炎症细胞积累的模式也有不同阶段，这些阶段的时间受到肺炎溶血素存在的影响。感染野生型肺炎球菌后约12至16小时，中性粒细胞开始积累。这种积累发生在肺炎球菌数量早期下降之后，但与快速生长阶段同时出现。感染无法产生肺炎溶血素的肺炎球菌后，中性粒细胞的流入较慢且强度较低。与肺炎球菌生长的第三阶段同时出现的是T和B淋巴细胞在炎症部位的积累，但这种积累与肺部淋巴细胞总数的增加无关。在没有肺炎溶血素的情况下淋巴细胞也会积累，但会延迟。
