The Role of Endosymbiotic <i>Wolbachia</i> Bacteria in the Pathogenesis of River Blindness
Amélie v. Saint André, Nathan M. Blackwell(University Hospitals of Cleveland), Laurie R. Hall, Achim Hoerauf(Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine), Norbert W. Brattig(Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine), Lars Volkmann(Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine), Mark J. Taylor(Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), Louise Ford(Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), Amy G. Hise, Jonathan H. Lass(University Hospitals of Cleveland), Eugenia Diaconu(University Hospitals of Cleveland), Eric Pearlman(University Hospitals of Cleveland)
Cited by 359Open Access
Abstract
Parasitic filarial nematodes infect more than 200 million individuals worldwide, causing debilitating inflammatory diseases such as river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. Using a murine model for river blindness in which soluble extracts of filarial nematodes were injected into the corneal stroma, we demonstrated that the predominant inflammatory response in the cornea was due to species of endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria. In addition, the inflammatory response induced by these bacteria was dependent on expression of functional Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) on host cells.
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