Role of Waddlia chondrophila placental infection in miscarriage.

Waddlia chondrophila is an intracellular bacterium suspected to cause human and bovine abortion. We confirmed an association between antibodies against W. chondrophila and human miscarriage and identified this organism in placenta or genital tract of women who had had miscarriages.

Role of Chlamydia trachomatis in miscarriage.

To determine the role of Chlamydia trachomatis in miscarriage, we prospectively collected serum, cervicovaginal swab specimens, and placental samples from 386 women with and without miscarriage. Prevalence of immunoglobulin G against C. trachomatis was higher in the miscarriage group than in the control group (15.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors impair innate immune responses to Toll-like receptor agonists and to infection.

Regulated by histone acetyltransferases and deacetylases (HDACs), histone acetylation is a key epigenetic mechanism controlling chromatin structure, DNA accessibility, and gene expression. HDAC inhibitors induce growth arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis of tumor cells and are used as anticancer agents. Here we describe the effects of HDAC inhibitors on microbial sensing by macrophages and dendritic cells in vitro and host defenses against infection in vivo.

Antibiotic susceptibility of Waddlia chondrophila in Acanthamoeba castellanii amoebae.

Waddlia chondrophila is an emerging cause of miscarriage in bovines and humans. Given the strict intracellular growth of this Chlamydia-like organism, its antibiotic susceptibility was tested by amoebal coculture, cell culture, and real-time PCR. W.

Waddlia chondrophila enters and multiplies within human macrophages.

Waddlia chondrophila is an obligate intracellular bacterium of the Chlamydiales order. W. chondrophila has been isolated twice from aborted bovine foetuses and a serological study supported the abortigenic role of W.

The Neff strain of Acanthamoeba castellanii, a tool for testing the virulence of Mycobacterium kansasii.

Virulent Mycobacterium kansasii (mainly subtype 1) may cause lung infections, whereas certain other strains (essentially subtype 3) are commonly non-pathogenic mycobacteria colonizing the human lower respiratory tract of patients. Determining the clinical significance of a strain isolated from a respiratory sample represents a major challenge for clinicians. Since some mycobacteria may use free-living amoebae as a training ground to select virulence traits, we wondered whether the Acanthamoeba castellanii amoeba could be used to determine the virulence of these intracellular bacteria.

'Candidatus Rhabdochlamydia crassificans', an intracellular bacterial pathogen of the cockroach Blatta orientalis (Insecta: Blattodea).

The genus Rickettsiella comprises various intracellular bacterial pathogens of arthropods, exhibiting a chlamydia-like developmental cycle. Species may be divided into two main groups, the R. popilliae-R.