Study characterizes mechanisms of pathogenesis, transmission of bacteria that cause gonorrhea

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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Source: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20140304/Study-characterizes-mechanisms-of-pathogenesis-transmission-of-bacteria-that-cause-gonorrhea.aspx

History of Gonorrhea

Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection that has been known to mankind since medieval times. It was referred to as the “clap” before the actual cause was discovered.

Discovery of the infection and its cause

The exact time when gonorrhoea started cannot be ascertained. Earliest records of the disease are found from 1611 when the English parliament enacted a law to ensure that the spread of the infection is decreased and curbed. This shows the magnitude of the public health problem this infection had posed then. However, even then the cause of the infection was unknown.

This was followed by a similar law in 1256 in France during the reign of Louis IX. The symptoms of the infection were observed when the crusaders lay siege of Acre. After the Pope Boniface secularized the practice of medicine, the doctors began to treat common men as well as prostitutes for this infection.

In 1879 Neisser discovered the gonococcus or Neisseria gonorrhoeae and it was soon proven to be the causative agent of gonorrhoea. He demonstrated its presence consistently in patients with symptoms. In addition, when discharge and cultures of gonococci was introduced into the urethra of healthy men, it caused the disease

History of gonorrhea treatments

The earliest treatment of gonorrhea was with the use of mercury. Earliest findings from an English warship “Mary Rose” show that several special surgical tools were used to inject mercury via the urinary opening.

In the 19th century gonorrhea was treated with the help of silver nitrate. Silver nitrate was soon discontinued and instead protargol was used which was a type of colloidal silver sold by Bayer from the year 1887.

Around 1859 another treatment was popular. These were cubebs, an Indonesian variety of pepper of which the dried powdered unripe fruit was used, and balsam of copaiba (or copaiva), which was extracted from a South American tree. The indication of their effectiveness was cessation of the discharge.

In the 1890s the first vaccine prepared from killed gonococci taken from Neisser’s laboratory. This vaccine was introduced in 1909.

Before antibiotics came into being metals were tried against the infection this included arsenic, antimony, bismuth, gold etc.

The use of other drugs for treatment continued right until the 1940s till antibiotics – notably Penicillin - came into use. Other antibiotics that arose during this time were the sulphur compounds or Sulphanilamide, Sulfapyridine and sulfathiazol.

Penicillins continued to be mainstay of therapy until 1970’s. In 1980 the first gonococcus isolates were identified that were resistant to penicillin. In 1983 a local epidemic caused by a penicillin resistant strain occurred in North Carolina. Patients were successfully treated with spectinomycin.

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Source: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Gonorrhea-History.aspx