This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is an oral commensal found also in severe infections in the oral cavity, mainly the periodontium. A. actinomycetemcomitans, previously Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, is a gram negative facultative non motile rod. It is also associated with non oral infections.
Contents |
Nomenclature
Recent studies have shown a phylogenetic similarity of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Haemophilus aphrophilus, Haemophilus paraphrophilus, and Haemophilus segnis suggesting the new genus Aggregatibacter for them[1].
Importance
It is one of the bacteria which might be implicated in destructive periodontal disease. Although it has been found more frequently in localized aggressive periodontitis,[2], prevalence in any population is rather high. It has also been isolated from actinomycotic lesions (mixed infection with certain Actinomyces species, in particular Actinomyces israelii). It possesses certain virulence factors that enable it to invade tissues, such as leukotoxin.
Virulence Factors
- Leukotoxin; kills PMN's and monocytes.
- Cytolethal distending toxin
- Immunosuppression factors that inhibit blastogenesis, antibody production and activate T-suppressor cells
- Inhibition of PMN's functions
- Resistant to complement mediated killing.
A. actinomycetemcomitans Serotypes
- a strain, for example ATCC 29523, frequently in oral cavity, variable leukotoxin expression.
- b strain Y4, most frequently in localized aggressive periodontitis, leukotoxin expression.
- c strain ATCC 33384, low leukotoxin.
- serotypes d, e
References
- ^ Norskov-Lauritsen N., Kilian M. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2006 Sep;56(Pt 9):2135-46.
- ^ Slots J. Scand J Dent Res; 1976 Jan;84(1):1-10.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 9 June 2008, at 08:22.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.