Researchers have
come a step closer to understanding how gonorrhea infections are transmitted.
When Neisseria
gonorrhoeae, the bacteria responsible for gonorrhea, are exposed to
seminal plasma, the liquid part of semen containing secretions from the male
genital tract, they can more easily move and start to colonize. The research,
led by investigators at Northwestern University in Chicago, appears in mBio-,
the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology."Our
study illustrates an aspect of biology that was previously unknown," says
lead study author Mark Anderson. "If seminal fluid facilitates motility,
it could help transmit gonorrhea
from person to person."
Gonorrhea,
a sexually transmitted infection, is exclusive to humans and thrives in warm,
moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix, uterus, and
fallopian tubes in women, and in the urethra in women and men. It is estimated
there are more than 100 million new cases of gonorrhea annually worldwide.
"Research characterizing the mechanisms of pathogenesis
and transmission of N. gonorrhoeae is important for developing
new prevention strategies, since antibiotic resistance of the organism is
becoming increasingly prevalent," says H. Steven Seifert, another author
on the study.
In a series of laboratory experiments, the investigators studied the
ability of N.
gonorrhoeae to move through a synthetic barrier, finding that 24
times as many bacteria could pass through after being exposed to seminal
plasma. Exposure to seminal plasma caused hair-like appendages on the bacteria
surface, called pili, to move the cells by a process known as twitching
motility. This stimulatory effect could be seen even at low concentrations of
seminal plasma and beyond the initial influx of seminal fluid.
Additional tests found that exposure to seminal plasma also enhanced the
formation of bacterial microcolonies on human epithelial cells (cells that line
body cavities), which can also promote the establishment of infection.
Researchers at the University of Cologne in Germany also contributed to
the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and DFG, the
German Research Foundation.
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