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Fulltext Production and characterization of a polyclonal antibody of anti-rLipL21-IgG against leptospira for early detection of acute leptospirosis

Seenichamy A, Bahaman AR, Mutalib AR, Khairani-Bejo S

Biomed Res Int, 2014;2014:592858.
PMID: 24860824 DOI: 10.1155/2014/592858

Leptospirosis is one of the zoonotic diseases in animals and humans throughout the world. LipL21 is one of the important surface-exposed lipoproteins in leptospires and the most effective cross protective immunogenic antigen. It is widely considered as a diagnostic marker for leptospirosis. In this study, we evaluated the serodiagnostic potential of LipL21 protein of Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona. We have successfully amplified, cloned, and expressed LipL21 in E. coli and evaluated its specificity by immunoblotting. Purified recombinant LipL21 (rLipL21) was inoculated into rabbits for the production of polyclonal antibody. Characterization of the purified IgG antibody against rLipL21 was performed by cross reactivity assay. Only sera from leptospirosis patients and rabbit hyperimmune sera recognized rLipL21 while the nonleptospirosis control sera showed no reaction in immunoblotting. We confirmed that anti-rLipL21-IgG antibody cross reacted with and detected only pathogenic leptospiral species and it did not react with nonpathogenic leptospires and other bacterial species. Results observed showed that anti-rLipL21-IgG antibody has high specificity and sensitivity to leptospires. The findings indicated that the antibody could be used in a diagnostic assay for detection of leptospires or their proteins in the early phase of infection.

Matched MeSH terms: Leptospirosis/microbiology
Fulltext Clinical predictors of dengue fever co-infected with leptospirosis among patients admitted for dengue fever - a pilot study

Suppiah J, Chan SY, Ng MW, Khaw YS, Ching SM, Mat-Nor LA, et al.

J Biomed Sci, 2017 Jun 28;24(1):40.
PMID: 28659189 DOI: 10.1186/s12929-017-0344-x

BACKGROUND: Dengue and leptospirosis infections are currently two major endemics in Malaysia. Owing to the overlapping clinical symptoms between both the diseases, frequent misdiagnosis and confusion of treatment occurs. As a solution, the present work initiated a pilot study to investigate the incidence related to co-infection of leptospirosis among dengue patients. This enables the identification of more parameters to predict the occurrence of co-infection.
METHOD: Two hundred sixty eight serum specimens collected from patients that were diagnosed for dengue fever were confirmed for dengue virus serotyping by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Clinical, laboratory and demographic data were extracted from the hospital database to identify patients with confirmed leptospirosis infection among the dengue patients. Thus, frequency of co-infection was calculated and association of the dataset with dengue-leptospirosis co-infection was statistically determined.
RESULTS: The frequency of dengue co-infection with leptospirosis was 4.1%. Male has higher preponderance of developing the co-infection and end result of shock as clinical symptom is more likely present among co-infected cases. It is also noteworthy that, DENV 1 is the common dengue serotype among all cases identified as dengue-leptospirosis co-infection in this study.
CONCLUSION: The increasing incidence of leptospirosis among dengue infected patients has posed the need to precisely identify the presence of co-infection for the betterment of treatment without mistakenly ruling out either one of them. Thus, anticipating the possible clinical symptoms and laboratory results of dengue-leptospirosis co-infection is essential.

Matched MeSH terms: Leptospirosis/microbiology
Fatal Leptospirosis and Escherichia coli co-infection in a post-partum woman

Tan TL, Lee LY, Lim WC

Med J Malaysia, 2018 12;73(6):427-429.
PMID: 30647223

The occurrence of Leptospirosis and Escherichia coli coinfection in the post-partum period is a novel case. This report illustrated a previously well woman from a suburban area presented with acute neurological deterioration following a two days history of fever during her puerperal period. Early interventions with fluids, broad spectrum antibiotics and intensive supportive care were given. Despite that, she deteriorated rapidly and developed pulmonary hemorrhage, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, and multi-organ failure. She succumbed within 12 hours of admission. The knowledge about such fatal co-infections should be disseminated to medical practitioners encountering Leptospirosis infection and general public.

Matched MeSH terms: Leptospirosis/microbiology
Fulltext Revisiting the taxonomy and evolution of pathogenicity of the genus Leptospira through the prism of genomics

Vincent AT, Schiettekatte O, Goarant C, Neela VK, Bernet E, Thibeaux R, et al.

PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2019 05;13(5):e0007270.
PMID: 31120895 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007270

The causative agents of leptospirosis are responsible for an emerging zoonotic disease worldwide. One of the major routes of transmission for leptospirosis is the natural environment contaminated with the urine of a wide range of reservoir animals. Soils and surface waters also host a high diversity of non-pathogenic Leptospira and species for which the virulence status is not clearly established. The genus Leptospira is currently divided into 35 species classified into three phylogenetic clusters, which supposedly correlate with the virulence of the bacteria. In this study, a total of 90 Leptospira strains isolated from different environments worldwide including Japan, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Algeria, mainland France, and the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean were sequenced. A comparison of average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of genomes of the 90 isolates and representative genomes of known species revealed 30 new Leptospira species. These data also supported the existence of two clades and 4 subclades. To avoid classification that strongly implies assumption on the virulence status of the lineages, we called them P1, P2, S1, S2. One of these subclades has not yet been described and is composed of Leptospira idonii and 4 novel species that are phylogenetically related to the saprophytes. We then investigated genome diversity and evolutionary relationships among members of the genus Leptospira by studying the pangenome and core gene sets. Our data enable the identification of genome features, genes and domains that are important for each subclade, thereby laying the foundation for refining the classification of this complex bacterial genus. We also shed light on atypical genomic features of a group of species that includes the species often associated with human infection, suggesting a specific and ongoing evolution of this group of species that will require more attention. In conclusion, we have uncovered a massive species diversity and revealed a novel subclade in environmental samples collected worldwide and we have redefined the classification of species in the genus. The implication of several new potentially infectious Leptospira species for human and animal health remains to be determined but our data also provide new insights into the emergence of virulence in the pathogenic species.

Matched MeSH terms: Leptospirosis/microbiology*
Leptospirosis in human: Biomarkers in host immune responses

Vk C, Ty L, Wf L, Ywy WS, An S, S Z, et al.

Microbiol Res, 2018 Mar;207:108-115.
PMID: 29458845 DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2017.11.015

Leptospirosis remains one of the most widespread zoonotic diseases caused by spirochetes of the genus Leptospira, which accounts for high morbidity and mortality globally. Leptospiral infections are often found in tropical and subtropical regions, with people exposed to contaminated environments or animal reservoirs are at high risk of getting the infection. Leptospirosis has a wide range of clinical manifestations with non-specific signs and symptoms and often misdiagnosed with other acute febrile illnesses at early stage of infection. Despite being one of the leading causes of zoonotic morbidity worldwide, there is still a gap between pathogenesis and human immune responses during leptospiral infection. It still remains obscure whether the severity of the infection is caused by the pathogenic properties of the Leptospira itself, or it is a consequence of imbalance host immune factors. Hence, in this review, we seek to summarize the past and present milestone findings on the biomarkers of host immune response aspects during human leptospiral infection, including cytokine and other immune mediators. A profound understanding of the interlink between virulence factors and host immune responses during human leptospirosis is imperative to identify potential biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic applications as well as designing novel immunotherapeutic strategies in future.

Matched MeSH terms: Leptospirosis/microbiology