Invasive Non-typhoid Salmonellae Establish Systemic Intracellular Infection in HIV-Infected Adults: An Emerging Disease Pathogenesis

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases 2010-04, Vol.50 (7), p.953-962
• Main Authors: Gordon, Melita A., Kankwatira, Anstead M.K., Mwafulirwa, Gershom, Walsh, Amanda L., Hopkins, Mark J., Parry, Christopher M., Faragher, E. Brian, Zijlstra, Eduard E., Heyderman, Robert S., Molyneux, Malcolm E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; AIDS; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - blood; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - immunology; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - microbiology; AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections - virology; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; ARTICLES AND COMMENTARIES; Bacteria; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the digestive system and abdomen; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Bone marrow; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Cells; Colony Count, Microbial; Cytokines; Epidemiology; Female; Fever - microbiology; Fever - virology; Gentamicins - pharmacology; HIV; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - microbiology; Human bacterial diseases; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Infections; Infectious diseases; Intracellular Space - microbiology; Malawi; Male; Medical sciences; Microbial Viability - drug effects; Regression Analysis; Salmonella; Salmonella - drug effects; Salmonella - isolation & purification; Salmonella - pathogenicity; Salmonella Infections - blood; Salmonella Infections - immunology; Salmonella Infections - microbiology; Salmonella Infections - virology; Salmonidae; Statistics, Nonparametric; Typhoid fever; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1086/651080

Background Salmonellae are facultative intracellular pathogens. Non-typhoid salmonellae (NTS) cause self-limiting mucosal disease in immunocompetent adults but invasive, recurrent disease among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults in Africa. The importance of intracellular NTS infection in HIV is unknown. Methods We performed quantitative pour-plate culture of blood samples obtained during febrile events among 495 Malawian adults on 871 occasions, and NTS were isolated at 158 events. Ninety-eight percent were HIV infected, with a median CD4 count of 67 cells/µL. Lysis of pour plates and gentamicin exclusion testing were used to investigate the presence of intracellular NTS in blood and bone marrow. Results Total viable NTS counts in blood were low (1 colony-forming unit [CFU]/mL) but correlated independently with lower CD4 count and with IL-10 and IL-6 levels, especially at recurrence, suggesting failure to clear intracellular infection. Viable NTS load in blood and bone marrow were closely correlated at index events, but NTS were significantly concentrated in bone marrow, compared with blood samples, at recurrences (6 vs 1 CFU/mL), suggesting systemic tissue replication. Both lysis-pour-plating and gentamicin exclusion testing demonstrated intracellular infection with >1 CFU/cell in both blood and bone marrow specimens. Intracellular bacteria were demonstrated in bone marrow at both index and recurrent events, showing that this is an early and enduring feature of pathogenesis, but intracellular NTS were detected in blood only at index events, particularly in patients with a CD4 count