Streptococcus pyogenes is a major human bacterial pathogen responsible for severe and invasive disease associated with high mortality rates. The bacterium interacts with several human blood plasma proteins and clarifying these interactions and their biological consequences will help to explain the progression from mild to severe infections. In this study, we used a combination of mass spectrome...

Macrophages play a crucial role in the innate immune response against the human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes, yet the innate immune response against the bacterium is poorly characterized. In the present study, we show that caspase-1 activation and IL-1beta secretion were induced by live, but not killed, S. pyogenes, and required expression of the pore-forming toxin streptolysin O. Using macr...

The effect of a water-soluble trimalonic acid derivative of fullerene, carboxyfullerene, against Streptococcus pyogenes infection was tested. Pretreatment with carboxyfullerene was able to protect mice from S. pyogenes infection in an air pouch model. S. pyogenes-induced death and skin injury were inhibited dose dependently by carboxyfullerene. Administration of carboxyfullerene via the periton...

Objective(s): Streptococcus pyogenes produces extracellular hyaluronidase enzyme. This enzyme is directly associated with the spread of the organism during infection. The objective of the present study was to clone and express the nucleotide sequence of the enzyme which is involved in hyaluronidase enzymatic activity. Materials and Methods: The enzymatic region of hyaluronidase gene was detecte...

Lethal necrotizing fasciitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes is characterized by a paucity of neutrophils at the site of infection. Interleukin (IL)-8, which is important for neutrophil transmigration and activation, can be degraded by S. pyogenes. Blood isolates of S. pyogenes were better able to degrade human IL-8 than throat isolates. Degradation of IL-8 was the result of a single specific ...

Human group IIA-secreted phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)-IIA) is a bactericidal molecule important for the innate immune defense against Gram-positive bacteria. In this study, we analyzed its role in the host defense against Streptococcus pyogenes, a major human pathogen, and demonstrated that this bacterium has evolved a previously unidentified mechanism to resist killing by sPLA(2)-IIA. Analysis ...

common infections encountered in children. Most bacterial infections are caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (1). In addition, resurgence of severe forms of disease caused by S. pyogenes has been detected in various parts of the world (2, 3). Although all S. pyogenes strains remain exquisitely sensitive to penicillin, erythromycin has been the drug of choice for individuals who cannot take penicil...

Objective(s): Streptococcus pyogenes, a notorious human pathogen is responsible to cause a wide range of infections varies from superficial common clinical illness to severe and life threatening infections. To our knowledge this is the first report exploring the emm types and superantigen/exotoxin gene profile of S. pyogenes from Pakistan. Materials a...

Arcanobacterium haemolyticum was isolated from the blood cultures of a previously healthy 37-year-old man who met all the criteria of Lemierre syndrome, including a primary oropharyngeal infection, evidence of thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein, and metastatic infections. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of Lemierre syndrome caused by A. haemolyticum in Korea and ...