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Role of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in the Control of Q Fever

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Coxiella burnetii: Recent Advances and New Perspectives in Research of the Q Fever Bacterium

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((volume 984))

Abstract

Acute Q fever is commonly resolved without an antibiotic regimen, but a primary infection may develop into a chronic infection in a minority of cases. Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, is known to infect macrophages both in vitro and in vivo. It has been observed that the intracellular survival of C. burnetii requires the subversion of the microbicidal properties of macrophages. Adaptive immunity is also essential to cure C. burnetii infection, as demonstrated by clinical studies and animal models. Indeed, the control of infection in patients with primary Q fever involves a systemic cell-mediated immune response and granuloma formation with an essential role for interferon-γ in the protection against C. burnetii. In contrast, chronic Q fever is characterized by defective cell-mediated immunity with the defective formation of granulomas and over-production of interleukin-10, an immunoregulatory cytokine. Finally, epidemiological data demonstrate that age and gender are risk factors for Q fever. The analysis of gene expression programs in mice reveals the importance of sex-related genes in C. burnetii infection because only 14% of the modulated genes are sex-independent, while the remaining 86% are differentially expressed in males and females. These results open a new field to understand how host metabolism controls C. burnetii infection in humans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses Transmissibles et Emergentes, CNRS-IRD UMR 6236, Institut Fédératif de Recherche 48, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France

    Christian Capo & Jean-Louis Mege

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  1. Christian Capo
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  2. Jean-Louis Mege
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Correspondence to Jean-Louis Mege .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Virology, Dept. of Rickettsiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, Bratislava, 845 05, Slovakia

    Rudolf Toman

  2. Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Coxiella Pathogenesis Section, NIH/NIAID, South Fourth Street 903, Hamilton, 59840, Montana, USA

    Robert A. Heinzen

  3. , Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis, College of Medicine, Texas A&M, Joe H. Reynolds Medical Building, College Station 407, College Station, 77843-1114, Texas, USA

    James E. Samuel

  4. Institut Fédératif de Recherche 48, Les Maladies Infect Transmissibles, CNRS-IRD UMR 6236, Bd Jean Moulin 27, Marseille, Cedex 05, 13385, France

    Jean-Louis Mege

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Capo, C., Mege, JL. (2012). Role of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in the Control of Q Fever. In: Toman, R., Heinzen, R., Samuel, J., Mege, JL. (eds) Coxiella burnetii: Recent Advances and New Perspectives in Research of the Q Fever Bacterium. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 984. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4315-1_14

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