Slimmen Lisa J M, Janssens Hettie M, van Rossum Annemarie M C, Unger Wendy W J
Laboratory of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Division of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Pathogens. 2021 Jul 28;10(8):945. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10080945.
Bacterial respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are a major global health burden, and the role of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in mounting an immune response to contain and clear invading pathogens is well-described. However, most encounters between a host and a bacterial pathogen do not result in symptomatic infection, but in asymptomatic carriage instead. The fact that a pathogen will cause infection in one individual, but not in another does not appear to be directly related to bacterial density, but rather depend on qualitative differences in the host response. Understanding the interactions between respiratory pathogens and airway APCs that result in asymptomatic carriage, will provide better insight into the factors that can skew this interaction towards infection. This review will discuss the currently available knowledge on airway APCs in the context of asymptomatic bacterial carriage along the entire respiratory tract. Furthermore, in order to interpret past and futures studies into this topic, we propose a standardized nomenclature of the different stages of carriage and infection, based on the pathogen's position with regard to the epithelium and the amount of inflammation present.
细菌性呼吸道感染（RTIs）是一项重大的全球健康负担，抗原呈递细胞（APCs）在引发免疫反应以遏制和清除入侵病原体方面的作用已有详尽描述。然而，宿主与细菌病原体的大多数接触并不会导致症状性感染，而是导致无症状携带。一种病原体在一个个体中会引起感染，但在另一个个体中却不会，这一事实似乎与细菌密度没有直接关系，而是取决于宿主反应的质的差异。了解呼吸道病原体与气道抗原呈递细胞之间导致无症状携带的相互作用，将有助于更好地洞察那些可能使这种相互作用偏向感染的因素。本综述将在整个呼吸道无症状细菌携带的背景下讨论目前关于气道抗原呈递细胞的现有知识。此外，为了解释过去和未来关于该主题的研究，我们基于病原体相对于上皮细胞的位置以及存在的炎症程度，提出了携带和感染不同阶段的标准化命名法。
