Haemophilus influenzae and the complement system.
Author
Summary, in English
The respiratory tract pathogen Haemophilus influenzae is responsible for a variety of infections in humans including septicemia, bronchitis, pneumonia, and acute otitis media. The pathogenesis of H. influenzae relies on its capacity to resist human host defenses including the complement system, and thus H. influenzae has developed several efficient strategies to circumvent complement attack. In addition to attracting specific host complement regulators directly to the bacterial surface, the capsule, lipooligosaccharides, and several outer membrane proteins contribute to resistance against complement-mediated attacks and hence increased bacterial survival. Insights into the mechanisms of complement evasion by H. influenzae are important for understanding pathogenesis and for developing vaccines and new therapies aimed at patients with, for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Here we overview current knowledge on the different mechanisms by which H. influenzae evades attack by the host complement system.
Department/s
Publishing year
2010
Language
English
Pages
258-265
Publication/Series
Trends in Microbiology
Volume
Mar 4
Full text
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Microbiology in the medical area
Status
Published
Research group
- Clinical Microbiology, Malmö
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1878-4380