In vitro effect of Bartonella birtlesii on mouse red cell viability

Abstract

The genus Bartonella comprises a unique group of facultative intracellular bacteria that use arthropod transmission as a mammalian parasitism strategy. Common traits of Bartonellae are haemotropic infections in their mammal reservoir hosts without causing immediate detriment to the host. When they are accidentally introduced into the wrong host or into immunocompromised individuals, infection results in acute clinical manifestations. After intravenous inoculation and before stable blood colonisation, Bartonella sp. first infect a primary niche, which could be, according to current opinion, based on in vivo clinical manifestation and on in vitro evidence, the vascular endothelial cells [1]. From this primary niche, the bacteria then colonise the bloodstream. Bartonella-mediated bacteraemia has been investigated using the B. tribocorumrat infection model [2]. This study demonstrated that Bartonella associated with mature erythrocytes entered within erythrocytes and replicated until reaching about eight bacteria per cell. The number of intracellular bacteria remained constant for the remaining lifespan of the erythrocytes. Detailed investigation of the erythrocyte invasion process requires a suitable in vitro model for erythrocyte infection. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the mouse-adapted Bartonella birtlesii on viability of Balb ⁄C mouse erythrocytes maintained in different culture media, with the aim of establishing an appropriate medium to study in vitro red cell infection. MATERIAL AND METHODS