Brucella melitensis infection associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome through molecular mimicry of host structures

FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2005 Aug 1;45(2):121-7. doi: 10.1016/j.femsim.2005.03.001. Epub 2005 Mar 24.

Abstract

Brucella melitensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium that can survive inside macrophages and the causative agent of brucellosis. In the present study, we found that a lipooligosaccharide of B. melitensis has a GM1 ganglioside-like structure and shows a strong antibody response in mice. The cholera toxin B subunit, which binds to GM1 ganglioside specifically, reacted with the surface of B. melitensis. Immunization with B. melitensis induced the production of anti-GM1 ganglioside antibodies in mice and serum from immunized mice showed a cross-reaction with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS)-associated Campylobacter jejuni, but not non-GBS-associated C. jejuni. When B. melitensis was treated with a neuraminidase, antibody responses disappeared. B. melitensis immunization induced the production of anti-GM1 ganglioside antibodies in BALB/c mice but not in C57BL/6 and ddY mice, and for BALB/c mice, immunization with B. melitensis induced much greater production of anti-GM1 ganglioside than GBS-associated C. jejuni. Flaccid limb weakness was observed in B. melitensis immunized mice. These results suggest that B. melitensis is a new etiological agent for GBS and that immunological responses between it and GBS-associated C. jejuni in the mouse model may be different.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / biosynthesis
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / blood
  • Brucella melitensis / immunology*
  • Brucella melitensis / pathogenicity*
  • Brucellosis / complications*
  • Brucellosis / immunology*
  • Campylobacter jejuni / immunology
  • Campylobacter jejuni / pathogenicity
  • Cholera Toxin / metabolism
  • Cross Reactions
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • G(M1) Ganglioside / chemistry
  • G(M1) Ganglioside / immunology
  • G(M1) Ganglioside / metabolism
  • Guillain-Barre Syndrome / etiology*
  • Guillain-Barre Syndrome / immunology*
  • Guillain-Barre Syndrome / microbiology
  • Humans
  • Immunization
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Lipopolysaccharides / chemistry
  • Lipopolysaccharides / immunology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Molecular Mimicry*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • lipid-linked oligosaccharides
  • G(M1) Ganglioside
  • Cholera Toxin