Microbiology COPY Flashcards
Define Pathogen?
Organism that causes or is capable of causing disease
Define a Commensal?
Organism which colonises the host but causes no disease in normal circumstances
Define an opportunistic pathogen?
Microbe that only causes disease if hosts defenses are compromised
Define Virulence?
The degree to which an organism is pathogenic
Define Asymptomatic carriage?
When a pathogen is carried harmlessly at a tissue site where it causes no disease
What test can be done to distinguish between staphylococcus and streptococcus?
The catalase test; detects the presence of catalase enzyme using hydrogen peroxide.
Staph = catalase + ve
Strep = catalase - ve
How do staphylococcus appear under the microscope?
Clusters of cocci
How do streptococcus appear under the microscope?
Chains of cocci
What colour are Gram positive and Gram Negative bacteria under a microscope?
Gram positive - Purple/blue
Gram negative - pink/red
What kind of bacteria are gram positive mostly?
Cocci
What kind of bacteria are gram negative mostly?
Bacili
What stain would you use to detect acid fast organisms?
Ziehl-Neelsen stain
Used for Mycobacteria (eg. M.tuberculosis)
Appear pink
What stain would be used for Mycobacteria tuberculosis?
Ziehl Neelsen stain
Because it is an acid fast bacilli (AFB)
What is the cell wall structure of a gram positive bacteria?
Capsule
Large peptidoglycan layer
Phospholipid membrane
What is the cell wall structure of a gram negative bacteria?
Capsule
Outer membrane with endotoxin - such as LPS
Small peptidoglycan layer
Phospholipid inner membrane
Describe the characteristics of Gram positive bacteria?
- Single membrane
- Thick peptidoglycan layer
Often cocci
Describe the characteristics of Gram negative bacteria?
- Double membrane
- Small peptidoglycan area
- LPS (endotoxin area)
often bacilli
What temperature ranges and pH can bacteria grow in?
Between -80°C → +80°C
Between pH 4 → 9
What is an endotoxin?
component of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria e.g. LPS in Gram negative bacteria
What is an exotoxin?
secreted proteins of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria
What are the features of Exotoxin?
Protein
Specific
Heat liable (changes in heat)
Strong antigenicity
Can be converted to toxoids
What are the features of Endotoxin?
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)
Non-specific
Heat stable
Weak antigenicity
Not converted to toxoids
What are the 3 ways that bacteria can transfer genes?
Transformation - via plasmids
Transduction - via bacteriophages
Conjugation - via sex pilus
How does transformation bacterial gene transfer work?
Horizontal gene transfer where some bacteria take up foreign genetic material from the environment and release this as plasmids taken up by other bacteria
How does transduction bacteria gene transfer work?
Genetic recombination where genes from a host cell (bacterium) are incorporated into a bacterial virus genome (bacteriophage) and then transferred to another bacteria when the bacteriophage infects another cell.
What are obligate intracellular bacteria?
Bacteria that can only grow inside a host cell
Therefore we cannot grow them on agar plates
Give examples of obligate intracellular bacteria?
Chlamydia
Rickettsia
Coxiella
How would you carry out a gram stain?
ComeInAndStain
- Apply primary stain - crystal violet (purple) - to heat fixed bacteria
- Add iodine which binds to crystal violet and helps fix it to the cell wall
- Decolourise with ethanol or acetone
- Counterstain with safranin (pink)
What test is used to distinguish between different streptococcal bacteria?
Blood agar haemolysis
What are the different results of blood agar haemolysis and what do they mean?
alpha haemolysis - partial (appears green) = Streptococcus pneumonia or Viridans group streptococcus
Beta haemolysis - full = Group A,B,C,G strep - Requires further Lancefield serotype test to determine species
Gamma haemolysis - none = Enterococcus
What test is done for the alpha haemolytic streptococcus to distinguish the species?
Optochin Test
Optochin sensitive - Streptococcus pneumonia
Optochin Resistant - Viridans group Streptococcus
Give some examples of different Lancefield group streptococci?
Group A - Streptococcus pyogenes
Group B - Streptococcus agalactiae
What type of bacteria are grown on MacConkey Agar?
Gram negative Bacilli
What is MacConkey Agar?
Contains bile salts, lactose and a pH indicator
If an organism ferments lactose - lactic acid is produce and the agar will appear red/pink.
What are the main bacteria that give a positive result on MacConkey agar?
Escherichia Coli
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Enterobacter
What are the main bacteria that give a negative result on MacConkey agar?
Salmonella
Shigella
Proteus
Yersinia
Pseudomonas
Are streptococci mainly aerobic or anareobic?
Aerobic
What are the 3 methods to classify streptococcus?
Haemoloysis on blood agar
Lancefield typing (sero grouping based on surface carbohydrate antigens)
Biochemical properties
What does a facultatively anaerobic bacteria mean?
Means that the bacteria likes aerobic conditions mainly but can adapt if conditions tun anaerobic
Give an example of a bacteria that is facultatively anaerobic?
Streptococcus pyogenes
What haemolysis classification does Streptococcus pyogenes fall into?
beta haemolysis
Group A strep
What antibiotic would be used against streptococcus pyogenes?
Penicillin
What are some associated conditions caused by S.pyogenes?
Wound infections - cause cellulitis
Tonsilitis and Pharyngitis
Otitis media
Impetigo
Scarlet Fever
Wha are some complications caused by S.pyogenes infection?
Can cause rheumatic fever
Can cause glomerulonephritis
What are the virulence factors of S.pyogenes?
Streptokinase
Streptolysin O and S
Erythrogenic Toxin
M Toxin
Where is Streptococcus pneumoniae often found as a commensal organism?
In the oropharynx in roughly 30% of the population
What are the associated conditions caused by S.pneumoniae?
Pneumonia
Otitis media
Sinusitis
Meningitis
what predisposing features can increase your risk of S.pneumoniae infection?
Impaired mucus trapping (caused by viral infection)
Hypogammaglobulinaemia (low antibody count)
Asplenia - Absence of normal spleen function
What are the virulence factors of S.pneumoniae?
Capsule - polysaccharide
Inflammatory wall constituents - Teichoic acid and peptidoglycan
Cytotoxin - pneumolysin.
How does S.pneumoniae respond to the Optochin test?
They are sensitive to it so they die.
What is the name given to oral streptococci?
Viridans group streptococci
What is the most virulent group of the Viridans group streptococci?
S.milleri
What are the associated conditions caused by viridans group strep?
Dental caries and abscesses
Infective endocarditis
Deep organ abscesses
Are staphylococcus mainly aerobic or anaerobic?
Mainly aerobic
What is the most important stapyhlococcus?
Staphylococcus aureus
What is the habitat of staphylococcus aureus?
How is it spread?
Nose and skin
Spread via aerosol and touch
What result would S.aureus give in the coagulase test?
Positive result
What is the purpose of bacteria possessing the coagulase enzyme?
This means that they can clot the blood plasma around the bacteria to attempt to protect themselves from phagocytosis
How would S.aureus appear on blood agar?
yellow colonies
What is MRSA?
Methicillin (flucloxacillin) Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
What drugs are MRSA typically resistant too?
- β-lactams
- Gentamicin
- Erythromycin
- Tetracycline
What main drug would you give to treat MRSA infection?
Vancomycin
What are the 4 virulence factors of S.aureus?
- Toxins: pore-forming e.g. α-haemolysin and PVL = causes hemorrhagic pneumonia
- Proteases: exfoliatin = scalded skin syndrome
- Toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST): stimulates cytokine release
- Protein A: a surface protein which binds Ig’s in wrong orientation so they can’t be recognised by the immune system.
What are the associated conditions caused by Staphylococcus aureus?
Wound infections
Abscesses
Impetigo
Septicaemia
Osteomyelitis
Pneumonia
Endocarditis
Toxins could also cause toxic shock syndrome and food poisoning
What result would Staphylococcus epidermidis give on the coagulase test?
Negative result
What does S.epidermidis look like on blood agar?
White/colourless colonies
What is the virulence factor of S.epidermidis?
Its ability to form persistent biofilms
Where are the likely sites of infection for S.epidermidis?
Prostheses
Catheters
Mainly affects immunocompromised individuals
What are the associated conditions caused by Staphylococcus saprophyticus?
Acute cystitis
What are the virulence factors of S.saprophyticus?
Haemagglutinin - adhesion to cell
Urease enzyme - cause kidney stones
What is the major Corynebacterium species that can cause disease?
C.diphtheriae
How does C.diphtheriae infection present?
child with severe sore throat and fever for 2 days
Lymphadenopathy in neck
rapid breathing
thick greyish membrane on tonsils
Swab - shows irregular gram positive rods
Stain shows metachromatic granules
All leads to C.diphtheriae
What can we use to treat C.diphtheriae?
Anti-toxin
Erythromycin
How do we grow C.diphtheriae in the lab from a throat swab?
Grow it in the presence of potassium tellurite
This will kill other types of bacteria except corynebacterium
How is C.diphtheriae spread?
Via droplets
How can we prevent C.diphtheriae spread?
Vaccination
Toxoid vaccine
What test could be done to further distinguish between staphylococci bacteria.
Coagulase test; looks at whether a fibrin clot is produced
What bacteria would be coagulase positive and negative?
Positive - S.aureus
Negative - S.epidermidis, S.saprophyticus
What are the 4 major phyla of Gram negative bacteria?
Proteobacteria
Bacteroidetes
Chlamydiae
Spirochaetes
What is the morphology of proteobacteria?
All gram negative bacilli
(except Neisseria (diplococci) and Campylobacter/helicobacter (spiral))
What bacteria fit in the phyla proteobacteria?
Enterobacteriaceae
Vibrio cholerae
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Haemophilus influenzae
Legionella pneumophila
Bordetella pertussis
Neisseria
Campylobacter
Helicobacter pylori
What is the morphology, respiration and habitat of the Enterobacteriaceae
Rods - most have flagellum
Facultatively anaerobic
Some species will colonise the gut - both commensal and pathogenic
What bacteria fit in the phyla proteobacteria?
Enterobacteriaceae
Vibrio cholerae
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Haemophilus influenzae
Legionella pneumophila
Bordetella pertussis
Neisseria
Campylobacter
Helicobacter pylori
What are the different species of the Enterobacteriaeceae?
Escherichia coli
Shigella
Salmonella
Proteus mirabilis
Klebsiella pneumonia
What is Escherichia coli?
A commensal bacterium that is abundant as a facultative anaerobe
They have a flagella
What antigens would be found on E.coli?
- O antigen: part of LPS
- K antigen: capsule
- H antigen: flagellin
What are the associated infections caused by E.coli?
- Wound infections (surgical)
- UTIs (cystitis; ~80% of female UTIs - faecal source or sexual activity; catheterisation - most common nosocomial infection)
- Gastroenteritis
- Traveller’s diarrhoea
- Bacteriemia
- Meningitis (infants) - rare in the UK
What are the major pathogenic types of E.coli?
ETEC - Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
EHEC - Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli
EPEC - Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
STEC - Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli
What is ETEC?
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli
An E.coli that produces special toxins that stimulates the lining of the intestines causing them to secrete excessive fluid.
This results in watery diarrhoea - Travellers Diarrhoea
What are the toxins produced by ETEC?
LT and ST enterotoxin
How does ETEC cause travellers diarrhoea?
Heat labile ETEC toxin modifies Gs protein to a ‘locked on’ state.
Adenylate cyclase is activated - increased cAMP.
increased secretion of Cl- into the intestinal lumen,
H2O follows this down an osmotic gradient
results in traveller’s diarrhoea.
What does EHEC cause?
Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli
Causes bloody diarrhoea
What is EPEC?
Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
They lack ST and LT toxins
Use adhesin called intimin to bind to host cells
cause watery diarrhoea
What are the 4 medically important species of shigella?
S.dysenteriae
S.flexneri
S.boydii
S.sonnei
What is special about shigella?
It is acid tolerant and so it will not be destroyed by gastric acid
How is shigella spread?
Via person to person contact
Via contaminated food and water
What are the symptoms of shigella infection?
Severe bloody diarrhoea
Frequent passage of stools > 30/day
small volume
pus and blood in stool
prostrating cramps
fever
What is the toxin produced by shigella?
Shiga toxin
Describe the pathogenesis of shigella infection?
Enters through colonic M cells:
In the intestine it induces self-uptake
leads to macrophage apoptosis.
Cytokines are released and neutrophils are attracted
Causes inflammation.
Shigella spread to adjacent cells.
What is an important complication of shigella infection?
Systemic absorption of shiga toxin will target the kidney
Causes Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
Can lead to kidney failure
What is the main medically important Salmonella species?
Salmonella enterica
Has over 2500 serovars
How is salmonella spread?
Through the ingestion of contaminated food and water
What are the associated infections caused by salmonella infection and name the serovars responsible for them?
Gastroenteritis - Serovar Enteritidis and Typhimurium
Enteric Fever -Serovar Typhimurium and Paratyphi
Bacteraeima - Serovar Cholerasuis and Dublin
What is the pathogenesis of Salmonella infection?
- Invasion of gut epithelium (SI)
- Intestinal secretory and inflammatory response: serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium - (Does NOT produce toxins)
- Transcytosed to basolateral membrane
- Enters submucosal Macrophages; survive and replicate within the macrophage.
- Systemic infection due to dissemination within macrophages: serovar Typhi
What are the associated infections of Proteus mirabilis?
UTI - 30% of cases
Opportunistic infection
Can lead to pyelonephritis and sepsis
What is the virulence factor of Proteus mirabilis?
Urease
Causes and increase in urine pH
leads to calcium and magnesium phosphate precipitation
forms kidney stones
What kind of bacteria is Klebsiella pneumonia?
Environmental - not gut
It is an opportunistic pathogen and so will infect immunocompromised subjects
What kind of patients get infected with Klebsiella?
It is an opportunistic pathogen so will infect immunocompromised patients
Including:
Neonates
Elderly
Immunocompromised
What are the associated infections caused by Klebsiella pneumonia?
UTIs
Pneumonia
Surgical wound infection
Sepsis
What is significant about Klebsiella?
It is MDR (multi-drug resistant)
it is resistant to carbapenems - the most broad spectrum drugs
What is Vibrio cholerae?
The bacteria responsible for causing cholera
A facultative anaerobe
notorious for causing pandemics
How is V.cholerae spread?
Ingestion of shellfish
Contamination of drinking water - due to flooding of costal areas or poor sanitation
Faecal-oral route
Is V.cholerae spread from person to person
Not very transmissible like this as it is highly susceptible to acid and therefore cannot survive in the stomach for long periods
What are the symptoms of V.cholerae infection?
Voluminous watery stools (secretory diarrhoea) - rice water stools
Can lose 20L of fluid/day
Dehydration leads to hypovolaemic shock which causes death
No blood or pus or fever - no invasion or damage to mucosa
What is the treatment for cholera?
Oral rehydration therapy (ORT)
What is the pathogenesis of cholera?
TCP pili - required for colonisation
Cholera toxin - causes Gs subunit to be locked on
uncontrolled cAMP production
increase PKA
Increased activity of CFTR channel
Loss of Cl- and Na+
Water follows and massive H2O loss
What is Pseudomonas aeruginosa?
Ubiquitous free-living aerobe
Motile - has a flagellum
opportunistic
Difficult to treat - MDR
What are the associated infections caused by P.aeruginosa?
Acute:
burns/surgical wounds
UTI
keratitis
Systemic:
Sepsis
ICU:
Pneumonia - leading cause of pneumonia in ICU
Chronic:
Patients with CF
What is Haemophilus influenzae?
Exclusively human parasite
opportunistic infection
Fastidious - requires chocolate agar to culture
non-motile
Where is Haemophilus influenzae often found on the body?
Nasopharyngeal carriage in 25-80% of the population
What are the associated infections caused by H.influenzae?
Meningitis - 5-10% of cases at <5yrs
bronchopneumonia
Epiglotitis, Sinusitis, Otitis media
Bacteraemia
Pneumonia in patients with CF, COPD, HIV
What are the virulence factors of H.influenzae?
Capsule
LPS
What are some facts about Legionella?
causes severe disease - 15-20% mortality
Fastidious - cultured on charcoal agar
How is Legionella spread?
air conditioning
shower heads
nebulisers
humidifiers
What are the associated infections caused by Legionella?
Legionnaires disease - severe inflammatory pneumonia
How is Bordetella pertussis spread?
Aerosol transmission
high contagious
What is the major associated condition caused by Bordetella pertussis?
Whooping Cough (pertussis)
Caused by the Pertussis toxin
What are some facts about Neisseria?
Non-flagellated gram negative diplococci
Fastidious
Obligate human pathogen
What are the 2 medically important species of Neisseria?
Neisseria meningitidis
Neisseria gonorrhoea
How is N.meningitidis spead?
Via aerosol transmission
Where is N.meningitidis infections common?
In universities
In barracks
What are the virulence factors of N.meningitidis?
Capuse
LPS
What is the pathogenesis of N.meningitidis infections?
Exists in the nasopharynx
Crosses nasopharyngeal epithelium and enters the blood stream
Can cause low level bacteraemia (asymptomatic)
or full sepsis (high mortality if not treated)
Can cross BBB and enter CSF or subarachnoid space
Lead to invasion of the meninges (meningitis)
What is gonorrhoea?
The second most common STD worldwide
How is N.gonorrhoea spread?
Person to person contact only
Sexually transmitted
What are the associated infections caused by N.gonorrhoea?
Infections can be asymptomatic
Gonorrhoea
Urethritis - In women can lead to PID (pelvic inflammatory disease)
Proctitis, gingivitis, pharyngitis
Conjunctivitis
What are the virulence factors of N.gonorrhoea?
LPS
Twitching motility pili
Give some facts about Campylobacter?
spiral rods
Microaerophilic - need low O2 levels and requires CO2
What are the 2 medically important Campylobacter species?
C.jejuni
C.coli
What are the associated infections caused by Campylobacter?
Most common cause of food poisoning
-undercooked poultry, cattle, unpasteurised milk
Causes mild to severe diarrhoea - often with blood
infection is mild but can be severe in immunocompromised Px
What are some facts about Helicobacter pylori?
Proteobacteria
Microaerophilic - low O2
Spiral shaped
Is helicobacter spread?
No - it is not spread but exists in the gastric mucus of roughly 50% of the global population
Therefore only a fraction of people develop disease
What are the associated infections caused by Helicobacter pylori?
Gastritis
Peptic ulcer disease - causes 80-90% of ulcers
Implicated in 10% of gastric adenocarcinomas and MALT lymphoma
What is the morphology of the bacteroidetes?
Rod shaped bacili
What is the most common Bacteroides infection?
Bacteroides fragilis
Most common cause of anaerobic infections
Give some facts about Bacteroides?
Non motile rods
obligate anaerobes
Make up commensal flora of large bowel
Most abundant flora - 30-40% of total flora
What are the associated infections caused by bacteroides?
opportunistic
Only occur with tissue injury - surgery, perforated appendix or ulcer
What is the morphology of Chalmydiae
Round - elementary bodies
Pleiomorphic - reticulate bodes
Small non motile
What kind of bacteria is Chlamydiae?
Gram neg
Obligate intracellular parasite
What is the pathogenesis of Chlamydiae?
Unique growth cycle - 2 developmental stages
1. Elementary bodies - infectious and will enter cells via endocytosis
2. Reticulate bodies - Replicative (non-infectious), will acquire nutrients from host
Reticulate bodies are converted back to elementary bodies to be release and infect other cells
What are the 2 medically important genus and species within of chlamydiae?
Chlamydia:
C.trachomatis
Chlamydophila:
C.pneumonia
C.psittaci
What are the associated infections caused by Chlamydia trachomatis?
Trachoma - blindness
Genital tract STD - Most common STD
Usually, asymptomatic
Lympho-granuloma venereum (LGV)
What are the associated infections caused by C.pneumonia?
Respiratory tract infection - mild pneumonia
What proportion of N.gonorrhoea infections are asymptomatic?
Men - 10%
Women - 50%
What is the morphology of Spirochaetes?
Spiral/helical
What are the medically important Spirochaetes?
Borrelia burgdorferi - Lime diesase
Treponema pallidum - Syphilis
What is the associated infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and how is it spread?
Lyme disease (300 cases in UK)
Spread via tick bites
What is the pathogenesis of Borrelia burgdorferi?
- Bacteria infects small mammals i.e. rodents
- Tick larvae acquire from the rodents; transmitted to humans by nymphs.
→ bull’s eye rash and flu-like symptoms.
What is the associated infection caused by Treponema pallidum?
Syphilis (STD)
(2800 cases in UK)
What is the culture medium to grow Borrelia burgdorferi?
In a medium containing rabbit serum
What is the pathogenesis of Treponema pallidum?
Primary stage:
Localised infection: ulcer (chancre) that occurs days-weeks post infection; highly transmissible
Secondary stage:
~50% cases: systemic - skin, lymph nodes, joins, muscles occurs 1-3months post infection; highly transmissible
Tertiary stage:
~30% cases: granuloma (gummas) in bone and soft tissue:
Cardiovascular syphilis: aorta
Neurosyphilis: brain and spinal cord
Occurs several years post infection; non-infectious stage
What is the culture medium used to grow Treponema pallidum?
Cannot grow on cultures
Detected using serology
What is a dermatophyte?
A fungi that requires keratin for growth
What are the forms of fungal infection?
- Skin infection
- Good prognosis - tends to be mild but occasionally debilitating
- Mucosal infection
- Good prognosis - tend to be mild but occasionally debilitating
- Invasive infection (including wound infection)
- Poor prognosis - can be life threatening even with ideal medical care
Are fungal infections primary pathogenic or opportunistic normally?
Normally opportunistic
What causes fungal skin infections?
Dermatophytes
Where do dermatophytes get nutrients from?
Keratin in the skin.
they are associated with the epidermis as the can feed off the dead skin tissue for keratin
When might a fungus become invasive?
in immunocompromised patients
What part of the immune system is required to clear fungal infections?
Innate - macrophages
What is eye karatitis?
Ulcerative corneal infection
(also called mycotic keratitis or keratomycosis)
What agents cause eye keratitis?
Fungus
Bacteria
What can eye keratitis lead to if left untreated?
Reduced vision or blindless
(second most common cause of blindness behind cataracts)
Why is candidiasis a cause for concern?
It is treatment resistant
What are the main species of Candidiasis?
Candida albicans
Candida glabrata
Candida tropicalis
Where is aspergillosis found?
An environmental organism
How does aspergillus infection occur?
From spores - these are inhaled and infection occurs through the lungs
(it is a conidial fungas)
What are the 2 main asperigllus species?
Aspergillus fumigatus
Aspergillus nidulans
What is allergic aspergillus a complication of?
Asthma
Cystic fibrosis
Sinusitis
When is Aspergillus invasive?
In immunocompromised patients
What is chronic pulmonary aspergillosis?
A difficult to treat ongoing infection.
If there is a significant underlying lung disease then this can lead to a reduced lung function making this infection difficult to clear leading to it becoming chronic.
What disease does a pneumocystis infection cause?
Pneumocystis pneumonia
What species of Pneumocystis causes Pneumocystis pneumonia?
Pneumocystis jirovecii
An obligate human parasite of the lung
What kind of people get infected with Pneumocystis?
Immunocompromised
Where is cryptococcus found?
In the environment
What are the 2 main species of cryptococcus?
Cryptococcus neoformans
Cryptococcus gattii
Tends to only infect immunocompromised patients
What is the aim of antimicrobial drug therapy?
To achieve inhibitory levels of agent at the site of infection without host cell toxicity
What does antimicrobial drug therapy rely on?
Identifying molecules with selective toxicity for organism targets
List the factors required for antifungal drug selective toxicity?
- Target does not exist in humans
- Target is significantly different to human analogue
- Drug is concentrated in organism cell with respect to humans
- Increased permeability to compound
- Modification of compound in organism or human cellular environment
- Human cells are “rescued” from toxicity by an alternative metabolic pathways
What are the main structural differences between human and fungal cells?
Fungi have cell walls
These cell walls are comprised of ergosterol
What are the 2 classes of fungal cell membrane active agents?
Polyenes
Ergosterol Synthetic pathway inhibitors
Give 2 examples of polyenes?
Amphotericin - broad spectrum
Nystain - Topic treatment
What is the mechanism of action of polyenes?
Form a pore in the ergosterol membrane
10x less affinity for cholesterol in mammalian membranes
What are some unwanted effects of using polyenes on mammalian cells?
Salt shifts
What is the mechanism of action of Ergosterol synthetic pathway inhibitors?
Dose dependent inhibitors of 14alpha-sterol demethylase
Secondary targets in the synthetic pathway inhibited by triazoles
Give 5 examples of Azoles and the fungi they act on
Fluconazole - Candida and Cryptococcus
Itraconazole - Aspergillus
Voriconazole - Invasive Aspergillus
Posaconazole and Isavuconazole - Zygomycetes
What are some side effects of Azoles?
liver dysfunction
GI symptoms: 10% of patients may discontinue drugs because of it
Nausea
vomiting
pain
Diarrhoea
What class of drugs are fungal cell wall acting agents?
Echinocandins
What is the mechanism of action of Echinocandins?
Inhibit 1,3-beta-glucan synthase
Give 3 examples of Echinocandins
Caspofungin
Micafungin
Anidulafungin
What fungi do Echinocandins tend to work on?
Susceptible yeasts
Mould
How are Echinocandins administered and why?
Via intravenous
Poor oral bioavailability
What are the main Mycobacteria of medical importance?
Mycobacteria tuberculosis
Mycobacteria leprae
How are mycobacteria classified in Gram staining?
They sit with the Gram-Positive bacteria family
They however do not stain on Gram stain
Require Ziehl-Neelsen stain
Why do Mycobacteria not stain on Gram stain?
The composition of their cell wall makes it impervious to staining
They have a high lipid content with Mycolic acids
Acid-Fast Bacteria
What stain is used to stain Mycobacteria?
Ziehl-Neelsen
Are Mycobacteria:
Spore forming
Aeorobic/Anaerobic
Motile?
Mycobacteria are
Non spore forming
Aerobic
Non motile
What is the significance of the Waxy cell wall on Mycobacteria?
Difficult to target with antibacterial agents
It allows them to survive inside macrophages at low pH environments
What is the growth rate of Mycobacteria?
Very slow
Weeks
What about the biology of Mycobacteria makes Mycobacteria difficult to treat?
Slow reproduction time
Slow growth in humans - gradual onset of disease
Slow growth in culture - increased time to make diagnosis
Slow response to treatment - cannot target fast reproduction times like other bacteria
What happens after a macrophage phagocytoses a Mycobacterium?
Bacterium is adapted to the intracellular environment
It can withstand phagolysosomal killing and will escape into the cytosol.
How can macrophages kill mycobacteria?
Release microbicidal molecules to kill the bacteria
They then present the antigen on MHC II molecules
This is detected by CD4 T cells
CD4 cells secrete IFNy andTNFa to activate intracellular macrophage killing
What composes a granuloma?
Infected macrophage in the centre
Other recruited Macrophages aggregated together (aggregates of epithelioid histocytes)
Surrounded by Lymphocytes (T and B cells)
What is the function of a granuloma?
What is a problem with this?
It will wall off the bacteria
However this can create a niche for the bacteria to enter latency and survive
What cell type is responsible for walling off the granuloma?
Fibroblasts
What conditions can make granulomas unstable and at risk of rupture?
CD4 depletion caused by HIV
TNFa depletion caused by therapies against RA or organ transplant
What are the 2 ways to diagnose Mycobacteria with culture?
Solid culture:
Microscopy positive 2-4 weeks
Microscopy negative 4-8 weeks
Liquid culture:
1-3 weeks
What other way can be used to diagnose Mycobacteria without culture?
What are the benefits of this?
Nucleic Acid Detection:
Uses PCR based testing
Faster results
Can detect for resistance
Sensitive and very specific
How can TB be diagnosed using a skin prick test?
The Mantoux test:
Intradermal injection of purified TB protein derivatives
Induced swelling and redness is a positive result
What is the treatment for tuberculosis?
4 Drugs: (RIPE)
Rifampin - 6 months
Isoniazid - 6 months
Pyrazinamide - 2 months
Ethambutol - 2 months
What is the length of time for treatment of TB?
4-9 months of combination therapy
Why are second line drugs sometimes used in TB?
Antibiotic resistant strains
What is the issue with the long length of time of TB treatment?
Side effects
Hepatotoxicity
Peripheral Neuropathy
Optic Neuritis
What are the different types of resistance TB strains?
MDR TB - resistant to multiple first line drugs
EDR (extensively drug resistant) - resistant to second line drugs
Totally drug resistant - TB resistant to treatment
What are the routes of infection of TB?
Aerosol
Patient to Patient Transfer
What is primary TB?
- Initial contact made by alveolar macrophages
- Tuberculosis evades killing by macrophage
- Use macrophage to get transported through the lymphatics to the hilar lymph node
What is latent TB?
- Primary infection contained but cell mediated immunity persists
- Therefore in latent TB there is no clinical disease
- But the response to TB can be measured in tuberculin skin test
What is Pulmonary TB?
- Failure of immune system leads to the clinical presentation of disease:
- Granulomas form around bacilli that have settled in the apex of the lung
- In the apex there is more air and less blood
- More air for bacteria
- Less blood access for white blood cells to clear infection
- In the apex there is more air and less blood
What happens as a result of a latent TB granuloma rupturing?
Abscess formation
Necrosis occurs in the centre of the granuloma (caseous)
Caseous (cheesy) material gets coughed up
When does pulmonary TB occur?
Immediately after primary infection
After latent activation
Following TB activation, where can it spread to?
Other areas of the lung to create other TB lesions
Other body tissues:
TB meningitis
Miliary TB
Pleural TB
Bone and joint TB
Genitourinary TB
What are the risk factors for the reactivation of dormant TB?
Age - infants, young adults, elderly
Malnutrition
Intensity of initial exposure
Immunosuppression
Define a virus?
An infectious obligate intracellular parasite
Comprised of genetic material (DNA OR RNA) Surrounded by a protein coat or membrane