Ke Yan Loo1a, Vengadesh Letchumanan1a*, Amreeta Dhanoa1, Jodi Woan-Fei Law1,2, Priyia Pusparajah1,3, Bey-Hing Goh4, Hooi-Leng Ser1,2, Sunny Hei Wong5, Nurul-Syakima Ab Mutalib6, Kok-Gan Chan7,8* and Learn-Han Lee1,3*
1Novel Bacteria and Drug Discovery Research Group (NBDD), Microbiome and Bioresource Research Strength (MBRS), Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
2Institute of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, PR China
3Medical Health and Translational Research Group (MHTR), Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
4Biofunctional Molecule Exploratory Research Group (BMEX), Biomedicine Research Advancement Centre (BRAC), School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
5Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
6UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute (UMBI), UKM Medical Centre, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
7Division of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
8International Genome Centre, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, PR China
aThese authors contributed equally to this writing
*Corresponding Author: Learn-Han Lee, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: lee.learn.han@monash.edu; leelearnhan@yahoo.com; Kok-Gan Chan, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: kokgan@um.edu.my; Vengadesh Letchumanan, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: vengadesh.letchumanan1@monash.edu
Received: February 04, 2020; Published: February 20, 2020
Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous Gram-positive bacterium widely distributed in the soil where it lives as a saprophyte. This opportunistic pathogen causes listeriosis in humans through consumption of contaminated food especially ready-to-eat (RTE) food, chiefly deli meat, cheese, and smoked fish. Pregnant women, neonates, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients are especially vulnerable to listeriosis. The pathogenesis of listeriosis begins with ingestion of the bacterium by humans; low pH and increased gastric temperature in the gastrointestinal system upregulates the production of virulence proteins, for example PrfA and internalins, facilitating the transition of L. monocytogenes from its saprophytic existence to a pathogenic one. Internalins mediate its adherence and invasion of host intestinal epithelial cells which are usually non-phagocytic. Inside the phagosome, the low carbohydrate and low iron concentration suppress internalin production. The production of listeriolysin O (LLO) and PlcA then allows the lysis of the phagocytic vacuole, enabling the entry of bacteria into the cytosol. High levels of ActA and PlcB expression promotes cell-to-cell spread. Understanding the pathogenesis of L. monocytogenes can help appreciate the microbial virulence, treatment options, and the development of better therapeutic agents for infected patients. Therefore, this review focuses on the pathogenesis L. monocytogenes, as well as the clinical characteristics, and therapeutic regimens that would be beneficial in the management of the disease.
Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes; Gram-Positive; Listeriosis; Contaminated Food; Internalins
Citation: Ke Yan Loo., et al. “Exploring the Pathogenesis, Clinical Characteristics and Therapeutic Regimens of Listeria monocytogenes". Acta Scientific Microbiology 3.3 (2020): 01-13.
Copyright: © 2020 Ke Yan Loo., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.