Roles of neutrophil β2 integrins in kinetics of bacteremia, extravasation, and tick acquisition ofAnaplasma phagocytophilain mice

Abstract

AbstractTick saliva contains anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive substances that facilitate blood feeding and enhance tick-vectored pathogen transmission, includingAnaplasma phagocytophila,an etiologic agent of granulocytic ehrlichiosis. As such, inflammation at a tick-feeding site is strikingly different than that typically observed at other sites of inflammation. Up-regulation of CD11b/CD18 occurs in host granulocytes following interaction or infection withA phagocytophila,and the absence of CD11b/CD18 results in early increases in bacteremia. We hypothesized that β2 integrin–dependent infection kinetics and leukocyte extravasation are important determinants of neutrophil trafficking to, and pathogen acquisition at, tick-feeding sites.A phagocytophilainfection kinetics were evaluated in CD11a/CD18, CD11b/CD18, and CD18 knock-out mice using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of blood, ticks, and skin biopsies in conjunction with histopathology. A marked increase in the rate ofA phagocytophilainfection of neutrophils and pathogen burden in blood followed tick feeding. Infection kinetics were modified by β2 integrin expression and systemic neutrophil counts. Significant neutrophil-pathogen trafficking was observed to both suture and tick sites. Despite the prominent role for β2 integrins in neutrophil arrest in flowing blood, successful pathogen acquisition by ticks occurred in the absence of β2 integrins. Establishment of feeding pools that rely less on leukocyte trafficking and more on small hemorrhages may explain the ready amplification ofA phagocytophilaDNA from ticks infested on CD11/CD18-deficient mouse strains.