Wright A C, Simpson L M, Oliver J D
Infect Immun. 1981 Nov;34(2):503-7. doi: 10.1128/iai.34.2.503-507.1981.
Infections with Vibrio vulnificus resulting in septicemia and high mortality have been correlated with pre-existing liver disease and hemochromatosis. As these conditions are associated with impaired iron metabolism and as iron availability in the host has been implicated in the pathogenicity of a number of bacterial infections, the role of iron as a possible factor in the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus was examined. Injection of mice with iron resulted in a lowering of the 50% lethal dose from 10(6) to 1.1 cells and in a reduction in the time of death postinfection. Elevated serum iron levels were also produced by damaging livers with injections of CCl4. The inoculum size required to kill these mice was directly correlated with serum iron levels. Since the portal of infection of this organism may be ingestion of contaminated seafood, the effects of iron upon orally induced infection were also studied. The effects of adding iron, transferrin, or Desferal (an iron chelate) upon the growth of V. vulnificus in human and rabbit sera were also examined. Iron appeared to be the limiting factor in the ability of this organism to survive or grow in mammalian sera. These results, both in vitro and in vivo, provided strong evidence that iron may play a major role in the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus.
创伤弧菌感染导致败血症和高死亡率，这与先前存在的肝脏疾病和血色素沉着症有关。由于这些病症与铁代谢受损相关，并且由于宿主中的铁可用性与许多细菌感染的致病性有关，因此研究了铁作为创伤弧菌发病机制中可能因素的作用。给小鼠注射铁会导致50%致死剂量从10⁶个细胞降至1.1个细胞，并缩短感染后的死亡时间。通过注射四氯化碳损伤肝脏也会使血清铁水平升高。杀死这些小鼠所需的接种量与血清铁水平直接相关。由于这种生物体的感染途径可能是摄入受污染的海鲜，因此还研究了铁对口服诱导感染的影响。还研究了添加铁、转铁蛋白或去铁胺（一种铁螯合剂）对创伤弧菌在人血清和兔血清中生长的影响。铁似乎是这种生物体在哺乳动物血清中存活或生长能力的限制因素。这些体外和体内的结果提供了强有力的证据，表明铁可能在创伤弧菌的发病机制中起主要作用。
