Publications

[a case of cat scratch disease with encephalopathy].	we report an atypical case of cat scratch disease (csd), accompanied with encephalopathy that is a rare complication of csd. a 17-year old man consulted a doctor for his right axillary lymphadenopathy. the history of his contact with cats and the sign of lymphnode swelling and fever suggested a suspect of cat scratch disease. administration of ampicillin improved his clinical symptoms, but a few days later he suddenly fell into coma after an episode of convulsion. the ct scan of the brain and la ...	2002	11904996
bacterial secrets of secretion: euroconference on the biology of type iv secretion processes.	type iv secretion systems (tfss) mediate secretion or direct cell-to-cell transfer of virulence factors (proteins or protein-dna complexes) from many gram-negative animal, human and plant pathogens, such as agrobacterium tumefaciens, bartonella tribocorum, bordetella pertussis, brucella suis, helicobacter pylori, legionella pneumophila and rickettsia prowazekii, into eukaryotic cells. bacterial conjugation is also classified as a tfss-like process mediating the spread of broad-host-range plasmid ...	2002	11918819
cat-scratch disease in children--texas, september 2000-august 2001.	cat-scratch disease (csd), a bacterial infection caused by bartonella henselae, has emerged as a relatively common and occasionally serious zoonotic disease among children and adults. to illustrate the spectrum of clinical manifestations of csd observed during a 1-year period, texas children's hospital (tch) in houston reviewed the medical records of 32 children evaluated at tch during september 2000-august 2001 whose antibody titers indicated recent bartonella infection. this report summarizes ...	2002	11922191
fatal meningitis and encephalitis due to bartonella henselae bacteria.	bacterial infection due to bartonella henselae commonly develops in children and young adults following cat/dog contacts and/or cat/dog scratches. regional lymphadenopathy is its most common clinical expression. however, encephalitis and parinaud's syndrome (oculoglandular syndrome) have also been reported as has systemic illness. a review of the international literature in all languages revealed no fatal complications in immunocompetent hosts. a four-year-old white child with no underlying illn ...	2002	12051353
detection of bartonella quintana from body lice (anoplura: pediculidae) infesting homeless people in tokyo by molecular technique.	we report detection of bartonella quintana brenner, the pathogenic agent of trench fever, from body lice, pediculus humanus l., infesting homeless people in tokyo by polymerase chain reaction. two of 12 (16.7%) homeless were infested with bartonella-positive body lice. from the current status of the recent increase of homeless people in many large cities of the developed countries, a medical examination of homeless people should be carefully performed in the consideration of trench fever. sampli ...	2002	12061434
low prevalence of bartonella henselae infections in norwegian domestic and feral cats.	bartonella henselae is the causative agent of cat scratch disease (csd). this clinical entity is very rarely encountered in human medical practice in norway. b. henselae infections including bacteraemia in cats have been frequently reported. the objective of the present study was to investigate the seroprevalence rate and the degree of b. henselae bacteraemia in norwegian domestic and feral cats. one hundred cats investigated at a small animal veterinary practice in the middle of norway were inc ...	2002	12076266
phylogenetic classification of bartonella species by comparing groel sequences.	bartonella is a bacterial genus classified in the alpha-proteobacteria on the basis of 165 rdna sequence comparison. the highly conserved heat-shock chaperonin protein, groel, has proved to be a valuable resolving tool to classify ten bartonella species. the groel gene was amplified and sequenced from ten bartonella isolates: bartonella alsatica, bartonella vinsonii subsp. arupensis, bartonella taylorii, bartonella tribocorum, bartonella birtlesii, bartonella henselae marseille (urlly8), b. hens ...	2002	11837299
experimental infection of domestic cats with bartonella koehlerae and comparison of protein and dna profiles with those of other bartonella species infecting felines.	bartonella koehlerae, a recently described feline bartonella species, was isolated from two naturally infected cats in northern california. we experimentally infected domestic cats with b. koehlerae to establish the microbiological and immunological characteristics of this infection in cats and to compare it to infections with those caused by b. henselae and b. clarridgeiae. four cats were inoculated intradermally with b. koehlerae (8.6 x 10(7) to 3.84 x 10(8) cfu/ml). none of the cats presented ...	2002	11825958
treatment and prevention of infective endocarditis.	the paper presents the most recent recommendations for the treatment and prevention of infective endocarditis (ie). the treatment of ie is complex and requires close collaboration among specialists in infectious diseases, cardiology, cardiac surgery and microbiology. the mainstay of medical treatment is antibiotic therapy. theoretical considerations regarding vegetations and antibiotics have practical consequences on the route and modalities of administration of antibiotics and on the techniques ...	2002	11829727
visceral leishmaniasis in a new york foxhound kennel.	although endemic throughout much of the world, autochthonous visceral leishmaniasis has been reported on only 3 previous occasions in north america. after diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in 4 foxhounds from a kennel in dutchess county, new york (index kennel), serum and ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (edta)-anticoagulated blood were collected from the remaining 108 american or cross-bred foxhounds in the index kennel and from 30 beagles and basset hounds that were periodically housed in th ...	2002	11822802
rheumatic manifestations of bartonella infection in 2 children.	we describe 2 patients with very unusual rheumatological presentations presumably caused by bartonella infection: one had myositis of proximal thigh muscles bilaterally, and the other had arthritis and skin nodules. both patients had very high levels of antibody to bartonella that decreased in association with clinical improvement. bartonella infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unusual myositis or arthritis in children.	2002	11824958
role of bartonella henselae in the etiology of henoch-schönlein purpura.	the etiology of henoch-schönlein purpura (hsp) has been ascribed to a variety of infectious and noninfectious agents. because we encountered a patient with hsp who had evidence of bartonella henselae infection and a prior report of a patient with systemic cat-scratch disease presenting as leukoclastic vasculitis, we investigated the association of b. henselae infection with hsp.	2002	11791094
natural history of bartonella infections (an exception to koch's postulate).		2002	11777823
rickettsial, ehrlichial and bartonella infections of the myocardium and pericardium.	myocarditis and pericarditis are uncommon complications of human rickettsial, ehrlichial and bartonella infections. myocardial inflammation usually occurs in the setting of acute disseminated infection. organisms associated with myocarditis include: rickettsia rickettsii, r. conorii, orientia tsutsugamushi, coxiella burnetii, anaplasma phagocytophila (the causative agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis) and bartonella henselae. pericarditis has been described in the setting of r. conorii and ...	2003	12456377
application of broad-range 16s rrna pcr amplification and dgge fingerprinting for detection of tick-infecting bacteria.	ticks play an important role in the transmission of arthropod-borne diseases of viral, protozoal and bacterial origin. the present article describes a molecular-biological based method, which facilitated the broad-range analyses of bacterial communities in ixodid ticks (ixodes ricinus). dna was extracted both from single ticks and pooled adult ticks. eubacterial 16s rrna gene fragments (16s rdna) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) with broad-range ribosomal primers. sequences span ...	2003	12459246
bartonella strains from ground squirrels are identical to bartonella washoensis isolated from a human patient.	the most likely animal source of a human case of cardiac disease in washoe county, nev., was identified by comparison of dna sequences of three genes (citrate synthase glta, 60-kda heat shock protein gene groel, and 16s rrna gene) of bartonella washoensis cultured from the human patient in question and of bartonella isolates obtained from the following nevada rodents: peromyscus maniculatus (17 isolates), tamias minimus (11 isolates), spermophilus lateralis (3 isolates), and spermophilus beechey ...	2003	12574261
comparison of pcr assays for detection of the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, anaplasma phagocytophilum.	human granulocytic ehrlichiosis is an emerging infectious disease in the united states and europe, and pcr methods have been shown to be effective for the diagnosis of acute infections. numerous pcr assays and primer sets have been reported in the literature. the analytical sensitivities (limits of detection) of 13 published pcr primer sets were compared using dna extracted from serial dilutions of anaplasma phagocytophilum-infected hl-60 cells. the specificity of the assays that were able to de ...	2003	12574272
molecular diagnosis of infective endocarditis by pcr amplification and direct sequencing of dna from valve tissue.	we used broad-range eubacterial pcr amplification followed by direct sequencing to identify microbial pathogens in heart valve material from 29 patients with histologically confirmed infective endocarditis and 23 patients free of infective endocarditis. microorganisms cultured by conventional techniques matched those identified by pcr in 21 cases. pcr alone identified the causative agent in three cases (streptococcus bovis, staphylococcus cohnii, and coxiella burnetii), allowing better patient m ...	2003	12574279
culture and antibiotic susceptibility of bartonella quintana in human erythrocytes.	bartonella quintana, the agent of trench fever, has recently been implicated in various diseases, in particular, bacteremia and endocarditis in homeless people. the host cell of bartonella spp. is believed to be the erythrocyte, and in the present study we demonstrate that b. quintana can be cultured in vitro in human erythrocytes. the bacteria were found to be intraerythrocytic by laser confocal microscopy with bartonella species-specific monoclonal antibodies. infections with b. quintana decre ...	2003	12543668
mass lesions of the posterior segment associated with bartonella henselae.		2003	12543767
outcome and treatment of bartonella endocarditis.	endocarditis caused by bartonella species is a potentially lethal infection characterized by a subacute evolution and severe valvular lesions.	2003	12546614
cat-scratch disease presenting as a solitary tumour in the breast: report of three cases.	cat-scratch disease (csd) may appear as a solitary mass in the breast and give the impression of a breast carcinoma. in this case, further clinical and laboratory investigation is required to rule out malignancy. we present three cases of csd of the breast in women of 64, 31 and 61 years old. each presented with enlarged lymph-nodes in the breast, which were clinically mistaken for solitary tumours. in the first two patients, the mammography was negative. the third patient had a mammogram which ...	2003	12551788
bartonella henselae infective endocarditis in north queensland.		2003	12534881
five-member gene family of bartonella quintana.	bartonella quintana, the agent of trench fever and an etiologic agent of bacillary angiomatosis, has an extraordinarily high hemin requirement for growth compared to other bacterial pathogens. we previously identified the major hemin receptor of the pathogen as a 30-kda surface protein, termed hbpa. this report describes four additional homologues that share approximately 48% amino acid sequence identity with hbpa. three of the genes form a paralagous cluster, termed hbpcab, whereas the other me ...	2003	12540561
interaction of pathogens with the endothelium.	the endothelium lines the inner surface of the vessel wall establishing a multifunctional, semi-permeable cellular barrier at blood-tissue interface. the large total surface of the endothelium is exposed to pathogens, pathogen-derived products as well as to agents of the activated host defense during an inflammatory reaction. the endothelium is not only specifically targeted by important infective agents like rickettsiae (1) or bartonella (2), it is involved in virtually most, if not all, acute ...	2003	12540949
western immunoblotting for bartonella endocarditis.	to differentiate infectious endocarditis (ie) from other bartonella infections and to identify infecting bartonella bacteria at the species level on a serological basis, we used western immunoblotting to test sera from 51 patients with bartonella ie (of which 27 had previously benefited from species identification by molecular techniques), 11 patients with chronic bartonella quintana bacteremia, and 10 patients with cat scratch disease. patients with ie were western blot positive in 49 of 51 cas ...	2003	12522046
detection of bartonella henselae and bartonella clarridgeiae dna in hepatic specimens from two dogs with hepatic disease.	a 4-year-old basset hound and a 6-year-old doberman pinscher were referred for diagnostic evaluation following documentation of persistently increased hepatic enzyme activities and hepatic dysfunction. histologic evaluation of hepatic biopsy specimens from the 2 dogs revealed granulomatous hepatitis in the basset hound and lymphocytic hepatitis with fibrosis and copper accumulation in the doberman pinscher. no etiologic agents were identified histologically. bartonella henselae dna was subsequen ...	2003	12523479
spatial analysis of yersinia pestis and bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii seroprevalence in california coyotes (canis latrans).	zoonotic transmission of sylvatic plague caused by yersinia pestis occurs in california, usa. human infections with various bartonella species have been reported recently. coyotes (canis latrans) are ubiquitous throughout california and can become infected with both bacterial agents, making the species useful for surveillance purposes. this study examined the geographic distribution of 863 coyotes tested for y. pestis and bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii serologic status to gain insight int ...	2003	12507856
isolated splenic cat scratch disease in an immunocompetent adult woman.	we report a case of isolated splenic cat scratch disease in an immunocompetent woman. the clinical presentation of prolonged fever, night sweats, weakness, and intrasplenic lesions was highly suggestive of lymphoma. this is the second reported case of isolated splenic cat scratch disease in an adult and the first in a healthy adult.	2003	12491224
gyra mutations in ciprofloxacin-resistant bartonella bacilliformis strains obtained in vitro.	we isolated and characterized mutants of bartonella bacilliformis that are resistant to the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which targets the a subunit of dna gyrase. mutants had single point mutations in the gyra gene that changed either asp-90 to gly or asp-95 to asn and had 3- or 16-fold higher resistance, respectively, to ciprofloxacin than did wild-type b. bacilliformis. asp-95 is homologous to asp-87 of escherichia coli gyra and is a common residue mutated in fluoroquinolone-resi ...	2003	12499219
infection and re-infection of domestic cats with various bartonella species or types: b. henselae type i is protective against heterologous challenge with b. henselae type ii.	four bartonella species have been isolated from domestic cats, of which two serotypes/genotypes of bartonella henselae and possibly b. clarridgeiae are human pathogens, causing cat scratch disease (csd).our objectives were to evaluate infection and potential cross-protection during re-infection in domestic cats with various bartonella species or types.thirty-six cats were primarily inoculated with b. henselae type i (n=16), b. henselae type ii (n=10), b. clarridgeiae (n=6) or b. koehlerae (n=4). ...	2003	12488072
a study on forensic samples of bartonella spp antibodies in swedish intravenous heroin addicts.	infection with bartonella, an emerging bacterial pathogen which often affects immunodeficient patients, has been reported in sweden over the past few years, with a high seroprevalence of b. elizabethae. a high prevalence of antibodies against b. elizabethae has also been found in urban intravenous drug users in the usa. using immunofluorescence, we retrospectively examined serum samples taken at autopsy from 59 swedish intravenous drug addicts from the stockholm area for evidence of antibodies a ...	2003	12780526
asking the right question.		2003	12781538
bartonella quintana lipopolysaccharide effects on leukocytes, cxc chemokines and apoptosis: a study on the human whole blood and a rat model.	bartonella quintana, an emerging gram-negative pathogen, may cause trench fever, endocarditis, cerebral abscess and bacillary angiomatosis usually with the absence of septic shock in humans. b. quintana lipopolysaccharide (lps), a deep rough endotoxin with strong reactivity in the limulus amebocyte lysate (lal)-assay, was studied in human whole blood and in a rat model. a significant (p<0.05) increase of interleukin-8 (il-8) concentration, comparable to the level induced by enterobacterial lps, ...	2003	12781702
cat-scratch disease occurring in three siblings simultaneously.	we report for the first time three siblings with cat-scratch disease occurring simultaneously. case 1 was an 8-year-old boy with enlarged supraclavicular lymph nodes and fever. case 2 was the 11-year-old sister whose presentation was a prolonged febrile illness. case 3 was a 13-year-old male adolescent with adenitis of the neck and thigh. all three patients were treated with rifampin with improvement of their symptoms.	2003	12797315
bartonella quintana and mycobacterium tuberculosis coinfection in an hiv-infected patient with lymphadenitis.	cat scratch disease (csd) is usually associated with bartonella henselae infection in patients with a history of cat exposure, but bartonella quintana may also be a cause of chronic lympadenopathy in patients with cat or flea contact. the lymph node histopathology of csd and tuberculosis may be indistinguishable. we report herein the first description of lymph node coinfection with b. quintana and m. tuberculosis in a 32-year hiv-infected woman. culture of lymph node biopsy material on columbia ...	2003	12799150
characterization of the ftsz gene from ehrlichia chaffeensis, anaplasma phagocytophilum, and rickettsia rickettsii, and use as a differential pcr target.	degenerate primers corresponding to highly conserved regions of previously characterized ftsz genes were used to pcr amplify a portion of the ftsz gene from the genomic dna of ehrlichia chaffeensis (ftsz(ech)), anaplasma phagocytophilum (ftsz(ap)), and rickettsia rickettsii (ftsz(rr)). genome walking was then used to amplify the 5' and 3' termini of the genes. the dna sequences of the resulting amplification products yielded open reading frames coding for proteins with molecular masses of 42.0, ...	2003	12804116
bartonella infection in sylvatic small mammals of central sweden.	sylvatic small mammals were captured in rural habitats near uppsala, sweden, to measure the prevalence of bartonella infections, characterize bacterial isolates and identify their host range, and increase our understanding of host-pathogen ecology. during 7 nights of trapping at 3 localities, 236 small mammals were captured (trap success 30%). bartonella were isolated from bloods of apodemus flavicollis (19 of 110 tested), apodemus sylvaticus (6/25), clethrionomys glareolus (9/60), microtus agre ...	2003	12613756
in vitro bartonella quintana infection modulates the programmed cell death and inflammatory reaction of endothelial cells.	bartonella quintana is an epicellular bacterium, which in vivo as well as in vitro, invades endothelial cells and develops within them inducing proliferative effects that play a pivotal role in neovascular manifestation of this disease. we investigated the effect of live bartonella quintana and its lps on apoptosis and inflammatory response in huvec-c, an endothelial cell line. the kinetics of the programmed cell death of bartonella quintana-infected huvec-c showed a peculiar course. even if ear ...	2003	12614981
type iv transporters of pathogenic bacteria.	type iv transporters are produced by several bacterial pathogens such as agrobacterium tumefaciens, bordetella pertussis, brucella spp., bartonella henselae, helicobacter pylori and legionella pneumophila. these transporters are critical for the pathogenic process in that they export important virulence factors across the membranes of the bacteria. although the virulence factors that are exported by these transporters can be either nucleic acid or protein, the general mechanism of transport appe ...	2003	12615216
recent progress in understanding bartonella-induced vascular proliferation.	the ability to induce endothelial cell proliferation is a common feature of human pathogenic bartonella species. recent data have indicated that bartonellae can provoke angioproliferation by at least two independent mechanisms: directly, by triggering proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis of endothelial cells; and indirectly, by stimulating a paracrine angiogenic loop of vascular endothelial growth factor production by infected macrophages. a nf-kappab-mediated acute inflammatory reaction of th ...	2003	12615221
rapid polymerase chain reaction-based confirmation of cat scratch disease and bartonella henselae infection.	cat scratch disease (csd) commonly occurs secondary to bartonella henselae infection, and the diagnosis has traditionally been made by microscopic findings, the identification of organisms by cytochemistry, and clinical history. however, cytochemical analysis tends to be very difficult to interpret, and histology alone may be insufficient to establish a definitive diagnosis of csd.	2003	12741894
[severe retinal phlebitis in ocular bartonellosis].	purpose/methods: to report the clinical case of a 34-year-old male with atypical ophthalmic manifestations of cat-scratch disease (ocular bartonellosis), including an extensive retinal phlebitis, as well as the evolution of the clinical picture with treatment. results/conclusions: the clinical diagnosis of ocular bartonellosis was serologically confirmed. oral treatment with ciprofloxacine healed the phlebitis and the neuroretinitis, with a residual optic disk pallor. this case exemplifies the d ...	2003	12743848
monoclonal and biclonal gammopathy in two patients infected with bartonella henselae.	two immunocompetent patients with cat-scratch disease due to infection with bartonella henselae developed monoclonal and biclonal gammopathy. neither patient had evidence of any other known cause of plasma cell dyscrasia, and antibiotic eradication of bartonella henselae infection resulted in the prompt disappearance of the gammopathy. hence, cat-scratch disease should be added to the list of possible underlying disorders in individuals presenting with monoclonal and biclonal gammopathy.	2003	12764550
lymphadenopathy at the medial epitrochlear region in cat-scratch disease.	our objective was to describe the imaging features of lymphadenopathy at the medial epitrochlear region as frequently seen in cat-scratch disease (csd) and to compare these features with those seen in non-csd. ten patients (four males and six females) presented with a subcutaneous soft tissue mass at the medial epitrochlear region. three patients were younger than 15 years. magnetic resonance imaging was performed in all patients. all lesions turned out to be regional lymphadenopathy instead of ...	2003	12764654
what do we (not) know about the human bartonelloses?	the human bartonelloses are a group of diseases with a rapidly increasing clinical spectrum. well known manifestations such as carrion's disease, trench fever, cat-scratch disease, and bacillary angiomatosis are examples of bartonella sp. infection. along with these diseases, recurrent bacteremia, endocarditis, septicemia, erythema nodosum, erythema multiforme, trombocytopenic purpura and other syndromes have been reported having been caused by bacteria of this genus. the infectious process and ...	2003	12807686
occurrence of bartonella henselae and bartonella quintana in a healthy greek population.	the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of igm and igg antibodies against bartonella henselae and b. quintana in a healthy greek population using a commercially available immunofluorescent test (focus test). five hundred healthy individuals were divided by sex into four age groups and three groups according to contact with cats. igm antibodies were not detected in any of the subjects examined, while 99 (19.8%) and 75 (15%) were igg seropositive to b. henselae and to b. quintana ...	2003	12812344
randomized open trial of gentamicin and doxycycline for eradication of bartonella quintana from blood in patients with chronic bacteremia.	chronic bartonella quintana bacteremia is known to occur in homeless people exposed to lice. we present here the results of an open randomized trial performed to evaluate the efficacy of doxycycline in combination with gentamicin in the eradication of b. quintana bacteremia. from 1 january 2001 to 1 april 2002, homeless people with blood cultures positive for b. quintana were randomized to receive either no treatment (untreated controls) or a combination of gentamicin (3 mg/kg of body weight/day ...	2003	12821469
cloning and characterization of an outer membrane protein (lip18) from helicobacter bizzozeronii.	a recombinant lambda-zap ii phage was selected by screening a genomic library of helicobacter bizzozeronii (hb) using antibodies from a naturally infected cat. dna sequencing resulted an open reading frame containing 172 codons with a predicted molecular mass of 18 kda (lip18). the amino acid sequence showed 22.1, 55.2, 56.7 and 57.1% identity to peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein of helicobacter pylori, agrobacterium tumefaciens, bartonella bacilliformis, respectively. a peptidoglycan associa ...	2003	12825349
a case of cat scratch disease neuroretinitis confirmed by polymerase chain reaction.	cat scratch disease neuroretinitis is caused by infection by bartonella henselae. to demonstrate b. henselae infection, serologic examination is commonly used, but sometimes serologic examination is not adequate for correct diagnosis. here we present a case of cat scratch disease neuroretinitis confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in addition to serologic examination.	2003	12842212
osteomyelitis caused by bartonella henselae genotype i in an immunocompetent adult woman.	we report the first description of osteomyelitis due to bartonella henselae genotype i in an immunocompetent middle-aged woman. the diagnosis was established by serology, histopathology, and pcr analysis of osseous and lymph node tissues. the mycobacteria growth indicator tube inoculated with the lymph node aspirate was used for pcr analysis.	2003	12843112
detection by immunofluorescence assay of bartonella henselae in lymph nodes from patients with cat scratch disease.	laboratory diagnosis of bartonella henselae infections can be accomplished by serology or pcr assay on biopsy samples. the purpose of our work was to assess immunofluorescence detection (ifd) in lymph node smears using a specific monoclonal antibody directed against b. henselae and a commercial serology assay (ifa) compared with pcr detection. among 200 lymph nodes examined from immunocompetent patients, 54 were positive for b. henselae by pcr, of which 43 were also positive by ifd. among the 14 ...	2003	12853405
identification of rickettsia spp. and bartonella spp. in ffrom the thai-myanmar border.	during a survey for possible rickettsial vectors in villages of the central part of the thai-myanmar border from september 2001 to february 2002, four species of fleas were collected from common peridomestic animals. all fleas were tested by pcr to detect dna of bacteria of the genera rickettsia (glta and ompb genes) and bartonella (its and ftsz genes). sequencing of pcr-amplified products was done using glta fragments for rickettsia and ftsz fragments for bartonella: two genotypes related to ri ...	2003	12860622
bartonella grahamii infecting rodents display high genetic diversity over short geographic distances.		2003	12860632
bartonella schoenbuchensis isolated from the blood of a french cow.		2003	12860633
clinical impact of persistent bartonella bacteremia in humans and animals.	bartonella spp. are emerging vector-borne pathogens that cause persistent, often asymptomatic bacteremia in their natural hosts. as our knowledge progresses, it appears that chronic infection may actually predispose the host to mild, insidious nonspecific manifestations or induce, in selected instances, severe diseases. persistent asymptomatic bacteremia is most common in animals that serve as the main reservoir for the specific bartonella. in humans, these organisms are b. bacilliformis and b. ...	2003	12860639
real-time pcr duplex assay for rickettsia prowazekii and borrelia recurrentis.	rickettsia prowazekii, the etiologic agent for epidemic typhus, and borrelia recurrentis, the etiologic agent of relapsing fever, both utilize the same vector, the human body louse (pediculus humanus), to transmit human disease. we have developed an assay to detect both bacterial pathogens in a single tube utilizing real-time pcr. assays for both agents are specific. the r. prowazekii and b. recurrentis assays do not detect nucleic acid from r. typhi, r. canada, or any of eight spotted fever ric ...	2003	12860643
genetic variation of bartonella henselae detected in lymph nodes from patients with cat scratch disease in slovenia.		2003	12860661
cat scratch disease with lymphadenitis, vertebral osteomyelitis, and spleen abscesses.	in this report we describe a 30-year old male patient with vertebral osteomyelitis and spleen abscesses with cat scratch disease. the diagnosis was made on the basis of molecular detection of bartonella henselae either on lymph node biopsies or on bone biopsy, histology of the lymph node, serology using either our in-house microimmunofluorescence assay or a commercial kit (focus technologies). immunofluorescent detection was also performed directly on slide appositions using a monoclonal antibod ...	2003	12860662
bartonella henselae and borrelia burgdorferi infections of the central nervous system.	to investigate the role of b. henselae in patients with symptoms suggesting neuroborreliosis, serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples were tested with serological and pcr methods. among 17 examined patients, in 12 cases borrelia burgdorferi infections were detected, in 1 case bartonella henselae infection was ascertained, and in two patients mixed b. burgdorferi and b. henselae infections were found. these results indicate that mixed infections should be taken into consideration in establishing di ...	2003	12860663
seroprevalence of bartonella henselae and bartonella quintana infections in poland in 1998-2001.		2003	12860664
bartonella spp. antibodies in forensic samples from swedish heroin addicts.	a high frequency of bartonella elizabethae seropositivity (39%) was recorded among intravenous heroin addicts in stockholm, sweden, who died from a lethal injection. some of the b. elizabethae-seropositive individuals also had antibodies to b. henselae houston-1, b. grahamii, and b. quintana, but none had antibodies to b. henselae marseille or b. vinsonii subsp. vinsonii. hepatitis was a frequent finding but no case had peliosis hepatitis. there was no case of endocarditis, but in three persons ...	2003	12860665
prevalence of bartonella infections in slovenian intravenous drug users.		2003	12860666
erythroblast cells as a target for bartonella quintana in homeless people.		2003	12860677
immunofluorescence detection of bartonella bacilliformis flagella in vitro and in vivo in human red blood cells as viewed by laser confocal microscopy.		2003	12860693
studies on the identification of deforming factor from bartonella bacilliformis.		2003	12860696
experimental infection of human erythrocytes from alcoholic patients with bartonella quintana.	bartonella spp. are found in the erythrocytes of their specific natural hosts and b. quintana bacteremia is associated epidemiologically with lice, alcoholism, and homelessness. the aim of our study was to compare the growth and the number of bacteria per erythrocyte in vitro in laboratory-infected red blood cells from alcoholic patients versus normal blood donor erythrocytes. enumeration of bacteria was performed either with plate counting or with a real-time pcr quantitative assay. number of b ...	2003	12860697
case records of the massachusetts general hospital. weekly clinicopathological exercises. case 22-2003. a 22-year-old man with chills and fever after a stay in south america.		2003	12867613
characterization of new members of the group 3 outer membrane protein family of brucella spp.	impairment of the omp25 gene in brucella spp. leads to attenuated strains and confers protection to the host. omp25 and omp31, whose functions remain unknown, were the first characterized members of group 3 outer membrane proteins (omps) (25 to 34 kda). recently, genomic and proteomic approaches identified five new putative members of this family, some of which are produced in b. melitensis or b. abortus. in the present study, using protein microsequencing, we identified new members of group 3 o ...	2003	12874309
molecular characterization of the sucb gene encoding the immunogenic dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase protein of bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii and bartonella quintana.	members of the genus bartonella have historically been connected with human disease, such as cat scratch disease, trench fever, and carrion's disease, and recently have been recognized as emerging pathogens causing other clinical manifestations in humans. however, because little is known about the antigens that elicit antibody production in response to bartonella infections, this project was undertaken to identify and molecularly characterize these immunogens. immunologic screening of a bartonel ...	2003	12874367
diagnostic methods. current best practices and guidelines for identification of difficult-to-culture pathogens in infective endocarditis.	ie is a serious, life-threatening disease. because treatment must often be adapted to the pathogen involved, rapid identification of the etiologic agent is critical to successful management of each patient. when difficult-to-culture pathogens are involved, routine microbiologic tests, including blood culture, may remain negative. because such cases may account for up to 31% of all ie cases, alternative diagnostic approaches are necessary. among the etiologic agents of culture-negative endocardit ...	2003	12874894
first case in bulgaria of parinaud's oculoglandular syndrome associated with bartonella henselae.		2003	12875532
gene-sequence-based criteria for species definition in bacteriology: the bartonella paradigm.	the definition of new species is currently based on polyphasic classification that includes both determination of phenotypic characteristics and dna-dna homology. however, none of these techniques is convenient for the rapid characterization of fastidious or non-culturable bacteria. using sequences available in the genbank database, we compared the similarities of gene fragments among the currently recognized bartonella species. this comparison led to both the definition of similarity values tha ...	2003	12875815
upper gastrointestinal bacillary angiomatosis causing hematemesis: a case report.	a 38-year-old hiv-positive woman presented with massive hematemesis on initial admission to hospital. endoscopy revealed ulcerated nodular lesions in the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. the clinical impression was of kaposi's sarcoma. the stomach was biopsied when the patient re-presented, and another endoscopy was performed. the biopsy showed mucosal ulceration with a proliferation of vascular channels associated with neutrophils and clumps of purplish, granular bacterial colonies, which were ...	2003	12894361
cat scratch disease presenting as orbital abscess and osteomyelitis.	ocular manifestations of cat scratch disease are uncommon. the diagnosis is usually made on the basis of increasing bartonella henselae serum antibody titers. we report a child presenting with orbital abscess and osteomyelitis who was diagnosed with hepatosplenic cat scratch disease by detection of b. henselae dna in the orbital abscess fluid.	2003	12904438
first isolation and detection by immunofluorescence assay of bartonella koehlerae in erythrocytes from a french cat.		2003	12904442
prevalence of bartonella infection among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with fever.	bartonella infection can be difficult to diagnose, especially when it manifests as bacteremia, which is usually accompanied by nonspecific symptoms, such as fever. therefore, we hypothesized that bartonella infection represents an underrecognized cause of febrile illness. to determine the prevalence of bartonella infection among patients presenting with fever, we evaluated 382 patients in san francisco. overall, 68 patients (18%) had evidence of bartonella infection detected by culture, indirect ...	2003	12905141
molecular and immunological approaches to controlling parasitic infection.		2003	12906731
the role of the host immune response in pathogenesis of bartonella henselae.	bartonella henselae can infect humans resulting in a wide range of disease syndromes including cat-scratch disease, fever with bacteremia, endocarditis, bacillary angiomatosis, and bacillary peliosis hepatis, among others. the nature and severity of the clinical presentation correlates well with the status of the hosts' immune system. individuals with impaired immune function, including hiv infection, progress to systemic infections more often. patients with intact immune function who become inf ...	2003	12906736
bartonellosis.	the role of bartonella species as pathogens in dogs and cats is being defined. diagnosis and treatment of bartonella infections of dogs and cats remain challenging. as new information regarding bartonella infections of companion animals becomes available, the understanding of the pathogenesis of these infections will improve. most bartonella species infecting dogs and cats are zoonotic, with b henselae the most important zoonotic species. b henselae bacteremia is common in domestic cats, and cat ...	2003	12910745
canine borreliosis.	a guild of organisms carried by the same vector (ixodes ticks) in lyme-endemic areas may be confounding the understanding of lyme disease in dogs. a new diagnostic method, the c6 peptide test for lyme, and serology and pcr testing for ehrlichia, babesia, and bartonella species will help to sort out seroprevalence and symptomatology caused by exposure to these agents or by coinfections. in addition, rickettsia, leptospira, mycoplasma species, and more could be involved in dogs diagnosed with a "d ...	2003	12910746
the immunologic response of dogs to bartonella vinsonii subspecies berkhoffii antigens: as assessed by western immunoblot analysis.	bartonella vinsonii subspecies berkhoffii is a recently recognized zoonotic pathogen that causes endocarditis, granulomatous rhinitis, and granulomatous lymphadenitis in dogs. isolation of b. vinsonii (berkhoffii) from blood or tissue samples is frequently unsuccessful; therefore, diagnosis is primarily dependent on serologic or molecular testing modalities. because previous canine serologic studies have used an indirect immunofluorescence assay (ifa), without western immunoblot (wi) confirmatio ...	2003	12918816
a bacterial conjugation machinery recruited for pathogenesis.	type iv secretion systems (t4ss) are multicomponent transporters of gram-negative bacteria adapted to functions as diverse as dna transfer in bacterial conjugation or the delivery of effector proteins into eukaryotic target cells in pathogenesis. the generally modest sequence conservation between t4ss may reflect their evolutionary distance and/or functional divergence. here, we show that the establishment of intraerythrocytic parasitism by bartonella tribocorum requires a putative t4ss, which s ...	2003	12940985
molecular cloning and analysis of a region of the bartonella bacilliformis genome encoding nlpd, l-isoaspartyl methyltransferase and yajc homologs.	the nlpd/lppb homolog of the human pathogen, bartonella bacilliformis, is an immunogenic 43-kda protein that is encoded by a 1206-bp open reading frame (orf-401). the regions flanking the nlpd/lppb gene of b. bacilliformis were sequenced to determine if it is located within the rpos operon, as it is in most bacteria. we report that the b. bacilliformis nlpd/lppb gene is located immediately downstream of pcm, a gene encoding a 25-kda protein, l-isoaspartyl protein carboxyl methyltransferase, that ...	2003	12941162
detection of novel bartonella strains and yersinia pestis in prairie dogs and their fleas (siphonaptera: ceratophyllidae and pulicidae) using multiplex polymerase chain reaction.	we developed a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay that simultaneously detects three types of flea-associated microorganisms. targets for the assay were sequences encoding portions of the glta, a 17-kda antigen, and pla genes of bartonella spp. strong et al., rickettsia spp. da rocha-lima, and yersinia pestis yersin, respectively. a total of 260 flea samples containing bloodmeal remnants were analyzed from fleas collected from abandoned prairie dog (cynomys ludovicianus) burrows at t ...	2003	12943112
[bilateral retinal artery branch occlusions revealing bartonella grahamii infection].		2003	12951187
isolated splenic cat scratch disease.		2003	12955654
rapid and efficient transposon mutagenesis of bartonella henselae by transposome technology.	molecular genetics are difficult to perform in bartonella henselae, the causative agent of cat scratch disease and the vasculoproliferative disorders bacillary angiomatosis and bacillary peliosis. to elucidate the underlying bacterial pathogenic mechanisms, genetic manipulation of b. henselae is the method of choice. we describe how to perform transposon mutagenesis in b. henselae using transposome technology. b. henselae mutants revealed by this technique showed random transpositional insertion ...	2003	12957381
a rhizobium leguminosarum acpxl mutant produces lipopolysaccharide lacking 27-hydroxyoctacosanoic acid.	the structure of the lipid a from rhizobium etli and rhizobium leguminosarum lipopolysaccharides (lpss) lacks phosphate and contains a galacturonosyl residue at its 4' position, an acylated 2-aminogluconate in place of the proximal glucosamine, and a very long chain omega-1 hydroxy fatty acid, 27-hydroxyoctacosanoic acid (27ohc28:0). the 27ohc28:0 moiety is common in lipid a's among members of the rhizobiaceae and also among a number of the facultative intracellular pathogens that form chronic i ...	2003	12618448
[three toddlers with a swelling in the neck].	three children, a girl aged 2.5 years and two boys aged 2 and 3 years respectively, presented with unilateral cervical lymphadenitis. the first patient had acute bacterial lymphadenitis due to group a streptococcus, characterised by a painful cervical swelling of acute onset. the second patient had painless cervical lymphadenitis caused by mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, which drained spontaneously. the third patient developed a non-tender, cervical swelling within a day. he too was systemic ...	2003	12621974
diagnosis of bartonella endocarditis by a real-time nested pcr assay using serum.	bartonella endocarditis is a severe disease for which blood cultures frequently remain negative. we tested three pcr assays by using specimens of serum sampled early during the disease from 43 patients diagnosed in our laboratory as having bartonella endocarditis on the basis of serological, culture, and/or valvular molecular detection. we tested a two-step nested pcr (tsn-pcr), a one-step nested pcr (osn-pcr) with a regular thermal cycler, and a one-step nested pcr with the lightcycler (lcn-pcr ...	2003	12624010
detection and identification of bartonella species pathogenic for humans by pcr amplification targeting the riboflavin synthase gene (ribc).	several bartonella species have now been implicated as human pathogens. the recovery of these fastidious organisms in the clinical microbiology laboratory remains difficult, and current methods are still relatively insensitive. thus, the bartonellae are good candidates for detection by pcr. we have developed a pcr assay which uses a single primer pair targeting the riboflavin synthase gene (ribc) and detected six bartonella species that have been implicated in human disease, b. henselae, b. quin ...	2003	12624031
in search of encephalitis etiologies: diagnostic challenges in the california encephalitis project, 1998-2000.	the california encephalitis project was initiated in june 1998 to identify the causes and characterize the clinical and epidemiologic features of encephalitis in california. testing for >or=13 agents, including herpesviruses, enteroviruses, arboviruses, bartonella species, chlamydia species, and mycoplasma pneumoniae, was performed at the viral and rickettsial disease laboratory (richmond, california). epidemiologic and clinical information collected for each case guided further testing. from ju ...	2003	12627357
phase variation in bartonella henselae.	bartonella henselae is a fastidious, gram-negative bacterial pathogen of cats and humans. previous workers have shown that serial passage in vitro leads to attenuation of virulence-associated attributes such as expression of pili, invasion of human epithelial cell lines and the stimulation of endothelial cell proliferation. in contrast to the published data, it was found that pilin expression is frequently preserved in organisms which have undergone phase variation in vitro. transition from a sl ...	2003	12634331
oral corticosteroids in cat-scratch disease.		2003	12635985
detection of bartonella henselae dna using polymerase chain reaction assay in patient with cat scratch disease.		2003	12636034
bartonella henselae in ixodes ricinus ticks (acari: ixodida) removed from humans, belluno province, italy.	the potential role of ticks as vectors of bartonella species has recently been suggested. in this study, we investigated the presence of bartonella species in 271 ticks removed from humans in belluno province, italy. by using primers derived from the 60-kda heat shock protein gene sequences, bartonella dna was amplified and sequenced from four ixodes ricinus ticks (1.48%). to confirm this finding, we performed amplification and partial sequencing of the pap31 protein and the cell division protei ...	2003	12643827
molecular detection of bartonella quintana, b. koehlerae, b. henselae, b. clarridgeiae, rickettsia felis, and wolbachia pipientis in cat fleas, france.	the prevalences of bartonella, rickettsia, and wolbachia were investigated in 309 cat fleas from france by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay and sequencing with primers derived from the glta gene for rickettsia, the its and pap31 genes for bartonella, and the 16s rrna gene for anaplasmataceae. positive pcr results were confirmed by using the lightcycler and specific primers for the rompb of rickettsia and glta of bartonella. r. felis was detected in 25 fleas (8.1%), w. pipientis, an insect s ...	2003	12643829
[cat scratch disease with posterior segment involvement].	to describe the clinical characteristics of patients with cat scratch disease during the last 2 years.	2003	12647335
characterization of the cryptic plasmid pbgr1 from bartonella grahamii and construction of a versatile escherichia coli-bartonella spp. shuttle cloning vector.	we report herein the isolation and molecular characterization of pbgr1, the first native plasmid isolated from the genus bartonella. cloning and sequencing revealed a 2725-base pair (bp) cryptic plasmid comprising two open reading frames of considerable length, which were designated rep and mob. the regions containing rep and mob are separated by 140-bp inverted repeat sequences and display a difference in g + c content from one another. a 1435-bp saci-bcli fragment containing the rep gene is su ...	2003	12584000