Abstract
Most species of the genus Elizabethkingia are pathogenic to humans and animals, most commonly causing meningitis. However, our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms involved is poor and there have been few pathological studies of Elizabethkingia spp. in animals. To understand the host injury induced by Elizabethkingia spp., we established a model of E. miricola infection in the black-spotted frog (Pelophylax nigromaculatus). The systematic pathology in and oxidative damage in the infection model were investigated. Our results show that recently isolated E. miricola is a bacterium that mainly parasitizes the host brain and that neurogenic organs are the predominant sites of damage. Infection mainly manifested as severe brain abscesses, meningoencephalitis, necrotic spondylitis, and necrotic retinitis. The liver, spleen, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and lung were also affected to varying degrees, with bacterial necrotic inflammation. P. nigromaculatus also suffered enormous damage to its oxidative system during E. miricola infection, which may have further aggravated its disease state. Our results provide a preliminary reference for the study and treatment of Elizabethkingia spp.-induced neurological diseases in animals.
Highlights
Elizabethkingia is a new genus of Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria, described in 2005, that were initially classified in the genus Chryseobacterium [1]
The pathogenic strain was originally isolated from P. nigromaculatus with wryneck disease and identified
Under a microscope (1000x), the bacteria presented as Gram-negative rods, singly or in pairs (0 5 – 1 0 μm × 1 0 – 2 5 μm)
Summary
Elizabethkingia is a new genus of Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria, described in 2005, that were initially classified in the genus Chryseobacterium [1]. Cases of human infection with Elizabethkingia spp. have been reported in the United States [9], England [10], Italy [11], Saudi Arabia [6], China [12], Central Africa [7], and India [13]. [15,16,17,18,19] and are likely to suffer symptoms of irritability, poor feeding, seizure, cloudy cerebrospinal fluid, and polymorphonuclear pleocytosis [7]. These symptoms are often identified and treated as influenza or another disease, and this misdiagnosis, combined with the lack of an effective therapeutic regimen, makes patients almost
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