Streptococcus pneumoniae burden and nasopharyngeal inflammation during acute otitis media

Department

Research

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Innate Immunity

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) is a common respiratory pathogen and a frequent cause of acute otitis media (AOM) in children. The first step in bacterial pathogenesis of AOM is the establishment of asymptomatic colonization in the nasopharynx. We studied Spn bacterial burden in conjunction with neutrophil recruitment and inflammatory gene transcription and cytokine secretion in samples of nasal wash collected from normal and otitis-prone children during health, viral upper respiratory infection without middle ear involvement (URI) and AOM. We found no significant associations between otitis-prone status and any of the measured parameters. However, Spn bacterial burden was significantly correlated with neutrophil recruitment, transcription of IL-8, TNF-α and SOD2, and secretion of TNF-α. We also found that transcription of IL-8 and TNF-α mRNA by neutrophils was significantly correlated with the secretion of these cytokines into the nasopharynx. We conclude that Spn bacterial burden in the NP is a major determinant of neutrophil recruitment to the NP and activity during URI and AOM, and that neutrophils are contributors to the secretion of IL-8 and TNF-α in the NP when the Spn burden is high.

First Page

667

Last Page

677

DOI

10.1177/1753425917737825

Volume

23

Issue

8

Publication Date

11-1-2017

Medical Subject Headings

Acute Disease; Asymptomatic Diseases; Bacterial Load; Cell Movement; Child, Preschool; Cytokines (metabolism); Ear, Middle (pathology); Humans; Infant; Inflammation; Inflammation Mediators (metabolism); Interleukin-8 (genetics, metabolism); Nasopharyngeal Diseases (immunology, microbiology); Neutrophils (immunology); Otitis Media (immunology, microbiology); Pneumococcal Infections (immunology); RNA, Messenger (analysis); Streptococcus pneumoniae (physiology); Superoxide Dismutase (metabolism); Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (genetics, metabolism)

PubMed ID

29113587

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