Haemophilus influenzae Resides in Tonsils and Uses Immunoglobulin D Binding as an Evasion Strategy

Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) causes respiratory tract infections and is also considered to be a commensal, particularly in preschool children. Tonsils from patients (n = 617) undergoing tonsillectomy due to chronic infection or hypertrophy were examined. We found that 51% of tonsils were positive for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 2014-05, Vol.209 (9), p.1418-1428
Main Authors: Singh, Kalpana, Nordström, Therese, Mörgelin, Matthias, Brant, Marta, Cardell, Lars-Olaf, Riesbeck, Kristian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
B lymphocytes
B-Lymphocytes - immunology
Bacteria
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Endocytosis
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Haemophilus Infections - epidemiology
Haemophilus Infections - immunology
Haemophilus Infections - microbiology
Haemophilus influenzae
Haemophilus influenzae - immunology
Haemophilus influenzae - isolation & purification
Haemophilus influenzae - metabolism
Humans
Hypertrophy
Immune Evasion
Immunoglobulin D - immunology
Immunoglobulin D - metabolism
Immunoglobulins
Infections
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
Microbiology
Miscellaneous
Palatine Tonsil - microbiology
Palatine tonsils
Pathogens
Solubility
Sweden - epidemiology
Toll-Like Receptor 9 - immunology
Young Adult
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Summary:Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) causes respiratory tract infections and is also considered to be a commensal, particularly in preschool children. Tonsils from patients (n = 617) undergoing tonsillectomy due to chronic infection or hypertrophy were examined. We found that 51% of tonsils were positive for Hi, and in 95% of cases analyzed in detail (n = 39) Hi resided intracellularly in the core tonsillar tissue. Patients harbored several intracellular unique strains and the majority were nontypeable Hi (NTHi). Interestingly, the isolated NTHi bound soluble immunoglobulin (Ig) D at the constant heavy chain domain 1 as revealed by recombinant IgD/IgG chimeras. NTHi also interacted with B lymphocytes via the IgD B-cell receptor, resulting in intemalization of bacteria, T-cel-independent activation via Toll-like receptor 9, and differentiation into non-NTHi-specific IgM-producing cells. Taken together, IgD-binding NTHi leads to an unspecific immune response and may support the bacteria to circumvent the host defense.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
1537-6613
DOI:10.1093/infdis/jit593