The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori infects more than half of the population worldwide. H. pylori manage to establish persistent infection, which would be life-long if not treated. In order to establish such an infection, this pathogen has to deal with the host immune system. H. pylori has certain characteristics which make the bacteria less announced to the host immune system. Additionally, for remaining in the harsh and acidic environment of the stomach with peristaltic movements and a high frequency of turnover of epithelial cells, H. pylori has developed different binding modes to structures present both in the mucus and on the surface of gastric cells and also to extracellular matrix proteins. Evidently, adhesion has a determinant role for a successful colonization by H. pylori. It has been shown that a small fraction of the H. pylori infection is in intimate contact and attached to the host epithelium. Despite its small proportion, this group maintains the persistency of infection. As there is no suitable in vitro system to mimic the human stomach for studies of H. pylori infection, we have developed the In Vitro Explant Culture technique (IVEC). By using this model we could show that H. pylori use the Lewis b blood group antigen to bind to the host gastric mucosa, during experimental conditions most similar to the in vivo situation. Furthermore, we could show that the host tissue responses to the bacterial attachment by expression of Interleukin 8 (IL- ), which will guide the inflammatory processes. Interestingly, by inhibition of bacterial adhesion through receptor competition i.e., by use of soluble Lewis b antigen, IL-8 production was hampered in the IVEC system, which further validates the presence of a tight relation between bacterial adhesion and induction of host immune responses. One of the inflammation signaling cursors in vivo is the upregulated sialylated Lewis x (sLex) antigen, an inflammation associated carbohydrate structure well established as a binding site for the selectin family of adhesion molecules. We could show that during chronic gastric inflammation, which is actually caused by the persistent H. pylori infection, the bacterial cells adapt their binding mode, and preferentially bind to sLex, which will provide an even more intimate contact with the host cells. This interaction is mediated by SabA, the H. pylori adhesin for sialylated oligosaccharides/glycoconjugates. By employing red blood cells as a model we could further demonstrate that SabA is identical to the “established” H. pylori hemagglutinin. We could also show that SabA binds to sialylated glycolipids (gangliosides) rather than glycoproteins on cell surfaces. Our result also revealed that SabA also binds to and activates human neutrophils. Such effect was unrelated to BabA and the H. pylori Neutrophil Activating Protein (HP- AP), which were not directly involved in the activation of neutrophils. Furthermore, phagocytosis of bacteria by neutrophils was demonstrated to be mainly dependent on presence of SabA. Interestingly, HP-NAP showed a possible role in guiding the bacterial adhesion during conditions of limited sialylation, i.e. equivalent to mild gastritis, when the tissue would be less inflamed and sialylated. In conclusion, H. pylori adhesion causes host tissue inflammation, then the bacteria will adapt to the new condition and bind to epithelial cells in a tighter mode by synergistic activities of BabA and SabA. Additionally, SabA bind to and activate human neutrophils, which will exacerbate inflammation responses and cause damage to host tissue. Thus, BabA and SabA are potential candidates to be targeted for therapeutic strategies against H. pylori and gastric disease.

Lyme borreliosis (LB), the most common tick-borne disease in Europe and North America, is caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The spirochetes can invade several different organs, thereby causing many different symptoms and signs. Diagnosis of LB relies on patient history, physical examination, and detection of anti-Borrelia antibodies. However, anti-Borrelia antibodies are not always detectable, and they commonly persist even after LB is successfully treated or spontaneously healed. The aim of my work was to study diagnostic aspects on clinical cases of LB and control subjects in an area endemic to LB, with a focus on newly developed anti-Borrelia antibody tests. A total of 617 patients with symptoms and/or signs consistent with LB, as well as 255 control subjects, were studied. The diagnostic panel included the following new LB tests: Immunetics Quick ELISA C6 Borrelia assay kit (C6), invariable region 6 peptide antibody assays (IR6), Liaison Borrelia CLIA (Li) and the chemokine CXCL13. Results were compared with the older Virotech Borrelia burgdorferi ELISA (VT) and with a Western blot method, the Virotech Borrelia Ecoline IgG/IgM Line Immunoblot (WB EL), when appropriate. In general, no significant differences were noted between the C6, VT and Li tests regarding serosensitivity in various LB manifestations. However, the seropositivity rate was lower for the C6 test compared with the VT and Li tests 2–3 and 6 months after diagnosis of erythema migrans (EM), indicating normalization of antibody levels. In addition, EM patients reporting a previous LB episode had a C6 seropositivity rate similar to that of patients without a previous LB episode, and seroprevalence in healthy blood donors was lower in the C6 test than the VT and Li tests. Taken together, these results support the recommendation of the serum C6 test as a Borrelia serological test due to its ability to reflect ongoing or recent infection. Although the majority of EM patients at presentation showed concordant serological responses to IR6 peptides representing the three main Borrelia species and the C6 peptide, there were also clinical EM cases that were C6-negative and could be detected mainly by a seroresponse to a B. burgdorferi sensu stricto-derived IR6 peptide. Thus, an antibody test combining antigens could be of value in the serodiagnosis of LB in Europe. The serosensitivity of the C6 test in cases of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) was shown to be associated with symptom duration. A serosensitivity rate of 93% was found in LNB patients ³ 12 years of age with a symptom duration of more than 30 days. Therefore, a negative C6 test in serum in such a patient argues against an LNB diagnosis. The presence of chemokine CXCL13 in cerebrospinal fluid was confirmed to be a reliable marker of LNB. CXCL13 differentiated LNB from other conditions and also indicated a high probability of LNB in children with short symptom duration where anti-Borrelia antibodies were still lacking in the cerebrospinal fluid. A two-tiered approach (C6 test in combination with WB EL) showed no significant improvement in specificity over the C6 test alone. However, WB EL may be useful in diagnosing suspected cases of acrodermatitis chronicum atrophicans and Lyme arthritis, usually displaying multiple IgG bands. In conclusion, although the serodiagnosis of LB remains to be settled, this thesis provides some practical tools regarding the use and interpretation of Borrelia serology including proposed diagnostic routines.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Univ., 2003. / Härtill 8 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2001. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2005. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

<p>Kronisk stress har visats kunna påverka immunförsvaret negativt och således kan den öka känsligheten för förkylningar och infektionssjukdomar. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om infektionssjukdomar i högre grad uppkommer efter en stressad period, dvs. på semestern. Hundratvå lärare och sextionio andra yrkesmän/kvinnor fick fylla i en av författaren utformad enkät om upplevd stress och hälsa. Resultaten visade att det kan finnas en ökad risk för infektionssjukdomar under loven/semestern och att stress just före semestern signifikant korrelerar med ökad förkylningsfrekvens på loven. Lärarna visade sig vara signifikant mer sjuka på loven och mer stressade före semestern än kontrollgruppen, samtidigt som de var stressade längre och sjuka längre. Möjligtvis kan stressen leda kroppen till en utmattningsfas under ledigheten, eller avslappningen i sig sänker immunförsvaret. Vidare forskning inom detta kan ge en bättre förståelse för den psykosociala modellen samt för fysiologin och psykets interaktionella natur</p>

Bakgrund: Multiresistenta bakterier, däribland MRSA, är idag ett globalt samhällsproblem. Infektioner förorsakade av MRSA skapar ett onödigt lidande för patienter med utdragen vårdtid som i värsta fall kan resultera i ökad dödlighet. Enligt Smittskyddsinstitutet (2010) drabbades 1479 patienter förra året i Sverige. Med få verksamma antibiotika måste andra åtgärder tillämpas, så som basala hygienrutiner, screening, isoleringsvård och utökad städning av sjukhusmiljön. Det är dock viktigt att utvärdera åtgärdernas effekter för att kunna utföra smittskyddsarbete på bästa möjliga sätt. Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka effekterna av olika åtgärder i smittskyddsarbetet mot MRSA. Metod: Litteraturstudie med kvantitativ ansats baserad på tio vetenskapliga original artiklar. Analysen gjordes enligt Forsberg och Wengströms (2008) riktlinjer för meta-analys. Resultat: Studien visar att MRSA förekommer i kliniska miljöer samt förutom hos patienten även hos vårdpersonal. Förebyggande åtgärder som bland annat noggrann städning, basala hygienrutiner och screening hade varierande effekt och reducerade MRSA- förekomsten bäst i kombination. I vissa fall kunde brister i vårdpersonalens följsamhet (compliance) av hygienrutiner ses. Slutsats: För att reducera MRSA- förekomst och spridning är det viktigt att implementera de åtgärder som finns idag och som visat sig har effekt. För att genomföra detta krävs det att vårdpersonalens följsamhet blir bättre.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the causative agent of tuberculosis, a disease that for years was considered to belong of the past, but tuberculosis is back causing over 2 million deaths per year. The infection can be dormant for decades and an active immune response can prevent the infection from progressing into active disease. However, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has caused an alarming rise in tuberculosis cases. The main infectious route for Mtb is through the airways into the lungs, where they encounter alveolar macrophages. Mtb are phagocytosed by these macrophages, but instead of being killing within the phagosome, Mtb modulates the cell to become a host in which the bacteria thrive. The lack of capacity to eradicate the infection stimulate cells of the immune system to gather around infected macrophages and form a granuloma that walls off the infection. Within this granuloma, Mtb can wait silently and later progress into active disease. However, only a fraction of exposed individuals develop disease, indicating that initial eradication of Mtb infections is possible. Such immediate response must be directed by the innate immunity comprised of phagocytes such as neutrophils (PMNs) and non-activated macrophages. Upon Mtb infection, macrophages become anergic and PMNs enter apoptosis. PMNs have a short lifespan and are cleared by neighbouring phagocytes, a mechanism described to resolve the inflammation and modulate tissue regeneration. We found that Mtb-induced apoptosis in PMNs was not dependent on phagocytosis of the bacteria, indicating that Mtb have the capacity to induce apoptosis in multiple PMNs. Complement-mediated phagocytosis induce survival signals such as Akt in PMNs, but despite this, complement-opsonized Mtb was able to override the anti-apoptotic activation in the cells. Since phagocytes clear apoptotic cells, we investigated how clearance of Mtb-induced apoptotic PMNs affected macrophages. We found that Mtb-induced apoptotic PMNs inflicted pro-inflammatory activation of the macrophages that cleared them. In addition, this activation was mediated by Hsp72 released from the Mtb-induced apoptotic PMNs. Furthermore, apoptotic PMNs can work in synergy with phagocytosed Mtb to activate macrophages and enhance intracellular killing of Mtb. Since dendritic cells are important for the regulation of immunity, we investigated whether Mtb-induced apoptotic PMNs affected the inflammatory response and maturation of dendritic cells. We found that Mtb-induced apoptotic PMNs trigger dendritic cells to enter a mature state able to activate naïve T-cell proliferation. We propose that infected apoptotic PMNs is a potent activator of the inflammatory response during infections. Taken together, PMNs not only kill their share of pathogens but also modulate other immune cells, thereby forming a link between the early innate and the adaptive immune response during microbial challenge with Mtb.

Kronisk stress har visats kunna påverka immunförsvaret negativt och således kan den öka känsligheten för förkylningar och infektionssjukdomar. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om infektionssjukdomar i högre grad uppkommer efter en stressad period, dvs. på semestern. Hundratvå lärare och sextionio andra yrkesmän/kvinnor fick fylla i en av författaren utformad enkät om upplevd stress och hälsa. Resultaten visade att det kan finnas en ökad risk för infektionssjukdomar under loven/semestern och att stress just före semestern signifikant korrelerar med ökad förkylningsfrekvens på loven. Lärarna visade sig vara signifikant mer sjuka på loven och mer stressade före semestern än kontrollgruppen, samtidigt som de var stressade längre och sjuka längre. Möjligtvis kan stressen leda kroppen till en utmattningsfas under ledigheten, eller avslappningen i sig sänker immunförsvaret. Vidare forskning inom detta kan ge en bättre förståelse för den psykosociala modellen samt för fysiologin och psykets interaktionella natur