Introduction and Aim: Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease caused by Brucella spp. which intracellular gram-negative bacterium. melitensis lacks the "traditional" virulence factors such as exotoxins or cytolysins, but capable of persisting intracellularly evading immune system. This study aims to identify B. using PCR discover genes associated with its severity for early detection thera...

An in vitro cytotoxicity microassay for the measurement of nanogram quantities of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin and Vibrio cholerae enterotoxin is described.

The superantigenic properties of M protein type 5 of Streptococcus pyogenes have been implicated as an important pathogenicity factor in streptococcal autoimmune diseases. Here we show that after a single purification step by affinity chromatography on immobilized albumin or fibrinogen, M protein has no mitogenic activity for T cells. We demonstrate that the superantigenicity of M proteins of t...

The role of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A was studied in acute and chronic pyelonephritis models employing an exotoxin A-producing strain PAO, and its toxin deficient mutant PAOT1. Interestingly, the mutant strain was found to be at an advantage in its ability to induce acute pyelonephritis and it induced severer renal pathology. No significant differences were observed in the ability of th...

Bacillus anthracis, the agent of anthrax, has gained virulence through its exotoxins produced by vegetative bacilli and is composed of three components forming lethal toxin (LT) and edema toxin (ET). So far, little is known about the effects of these toxins on the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. Here, we provide an overview on the general effects of toxin upon the cytoskeleton architecture. Thus, we s...

Between January 1988 and December 1989 Aeromonas species were isolated from 45 (1.8%) of 2,480 patients with acute gastroenteritis. No other bacterial enteric pathogens were found in any of these 45 patients. Of the 45 Aeromonas isolates, 35 strains (77.8%) were Aeromonas hydrophila, 7 (15.5%) were Aeromonas sobria, and 3 (6.7%) were Aeromonas caviae. Most of the patients were under 5 years of ...