Chlamydophila psittaci
From DrugPedia: A Wikipedia for Drug discovery
Chlamydophila psittaci
Chlamydophila psittaci is an obligate, intracellular, gram negative bacteria that occur as a parasite in eukaryotic cells. These cells are coccoid and non-motile, with sizes ranging from 0.2-1.5 m. The cylamydial cell envelope lacks peptidoglycan, but instead has an outer membrane containing lipopolysaccharide and a cytoplasmic membrane bilayer.
Chlamydophila psittaci causes a systemic infectious disease, psittacosis, in the parrot family and other avian species. Chlamydophila psittaci is present in feces, nasal secretions, and feathers of infected birds. This bacteria may be transmitted to humans through inhalation of dust from the contaminated bird. In 1930, the largest epidemic of psittacosis affected 750-800 individuals, which lead to the isolation of Chlamydophila psittaci in Europe and the United States. A total of 923 human cases of psittacosis have been reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1988 through 2003. The term psittacosis is derived from the Greek word for parrot.
For many years, Chlamydophila psittaci was detected through the isolation of the organism through cell culture, which required scraping of bacterial cells from the site of infection of patients. New techniques of polymerase chain reaction and ligase chain reaction has improved detection of these specimens. These new diagnostic techniques involves fluorescence microscopy and enzyme-linked immunoassays.
Chlamydophila psittaci infection may be treated through antimicrobial therapy such as tetracycline, doxycycline, erythromycin, and sulfonamides. Mortality rate prior to antimicrobial treatment was approximately 15-20% and has decreased to less than 1% with appropriate antibiotic therapy.
| Kingdom | Bacteria |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chlamydiae |
| Order | Chlamydiales |
| Family | Chlamydiaceae |
| Genus | Chlamydophila |
| Species | C. psittaci |
| Binomial | Chlamydophila psittaci |
Contents |
[edit] Surface Characteristics
The surface consists of specific LPS structures. It consists of repeating units of tetrasaccharide of 3-deoxy--D-manno-oct-2 ulopyranosonic acid (Kdo) residues.
[edit] Pathogenic Activity
Chlamydophila psittaci is a pathogen which interacts with parrots, parakeets, canaries, and other avian species. The bacteria may be transmitted to humans through handling of sick birds. Human to human transfer is uncommon, although possible. Certain breeds of Chlamydophila psittaci may infect sheep, goats, and cows. This species does not have any direct contribution to the environment because it cannot live outside its host.
[edit] Virulence
Chlamydophila psittaci causes an infection through the respiratory system by using chlamydial elementary bodies to attach to the respiratory epithelial cells of the host and is engulfed through phagocytosis. Elementary bodies spread via the blood steam to the reticuloendothelial system and become reticulate bodies, which depend on host cell ATP to grow. Within the inclusion of the host cell, reticular bodies undergo binary fission for 8-10 hours after infection, and continue to divide for 20 hours. Reticular bodies give rise to elementary bodies after 20 hours of infection. After 48-72 hours, the development cycle is completed and the infected host cell’s inclusion becomes filled with 10-1000 elementary bodies. Elementary bodies are released through lysis of the cell and may then infect fresh host cells.
Chlamydophila psittaci affects the parrot family and other avian species. Once infected, these species will be susceptible to symptoms such as appetite and weight loss, diarrhea, sinusitis, and respiratory distress. Humans contract the disease through handling sick birds. Symptoms in humans include fever, cough, dyspnea, mild phryngitis, epistaxis, severe headache, and pneumonia. Certain strains of Chlamydophila psittaci may also infect sheep, goats, and cows.
