Rouquette C, Berche P
INSERM U 411, Faculté de Médecine Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France.
Microbiologia. 1996 Jun;12(2):245-58.
Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium responsible for severe infections in human and a large variety of animal species. It is a facultative intracellular pathogen which invades macrophages and most tissue cells of infected hosts where it can proliferate. The molecular basis of this intracellular parasitism has been to a large extent elucidated. The virulence factors, including internalin, listeriolysin O, phospholipases and a bacterial surface protein, ActA, are encoded by chromosomal genes organised in operons. Following internalisation into host cells, the bacteria escape from the phagosomal compartment and enter the cytoplasm. They then spread from cell to cell by a process involving actin polymerisation. In infected hosts, the bacteria cross the intestinal wall at Peyer's patches to invade the mesenteric lymph nodes and the blood. The main target organ is the liver, where the bacteria multiply inside hepatocytes. Early recruitment of polymorphonuclear cells lead to hepatocyte lysis, and thereby bacterial release. This causes prolonged septicaemia, particularly in immunocompromised hosts, thus exposing the placenta and brain to infection. The prognosis of listeriosis depends on the severity of meningoencephalitis, due to the elective location of foci of infection in the brain stem (rhombencephalitis). Despite bactericidal antibiotic therapy, the overall mortality is still high (25 to 30%).
单核细胞增生李斯特菌是一种革兰氏阳性细菌，可导致人类和多种动物发生严重感染。它是一种兼性细胞内病原体，可侵入巨噬细胞和受感染宿主的大多数组织细胞并在其中增殖。这种细胞内寄生的分子基础在很大程度上已得到阐明。毒力因子，包括内化素、李斯特菌溶血素O、磷脂酶和一种细菌表面蛋白ActA，由操纵子中组织的染色体基因编码。内化进入宿主细胞后，细菌从吞噬体区室逃逸并进入细胞质。然后它们通过涉及肌动蛋白聚合的过程在细胞间传播。在受感染的宿主体内，细菌在派尔集合淋巴结处穿过肠壁，侵入肠系膜淋巴结和血液。主要靶器官是肝脏，细菌在肝细胞内繁殖。多形核细胞的早期募集导致肝细胞溶解，从而释放细菌。这会导致败血症持续时间延长，尤其是在免疫功能低下的宿主中，从而使胎盘和大脑受到感染。李斯特菌病的预后取决于脑膜脑炎的严重程度，这是由于感染灶在脑干（菱形脑炎）的选择性定位。尽管采用了杀菌抗生素治疗，但总体死亡率仍然很高（25%至30%）。
