Systemic Inflammatory Responses in African Tick-Bite Fever

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 187; no. 8; pp. 1332 - 1336
• Main Authors: Jensenius, Mogens, Ueland, Thor, Fournier, Pierre-Edouard, Brosstad, Frank, Stylianou, Eva, Vene, Sirkka, Myrvang, Bjørn, Raoult, Didier, Aukrust, Pål
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 15.04.2003; University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adult; Africa; Animals; Antibodies; Antigens; Arachnid Vectors; Bacteria; Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Bites and Stings - blood; Bites and Stings - immunology; Blood plasma; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - blood; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - immunology; Cytokines; Cytokines - blood; E-Selectin - blood; Endothelial cells; Female; Fibrosis; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Inflammation - blood; Inflammation - immunology; Inflammation - microbiology; Malaria; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Rickettsia - physiology; Rickettsia Infections - blood; Rickettsia Infections - immunology; Rickettsial diseases; Schistosomiasis; Tick-Borne Diseases - blood; Tick-Borne Diseases - immunology; Ticks - microbiology; Travel; Tropical bacterial diseases; von Willebrand Factor - analysis; Africa; Infection; Human; Immune response; Rickettsialosis; Rickettsial infection; Bacteriosis; Tick borne fever; Host agent relation; Inflammation; Systemic; Ehrlichia infection
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/368415

Information regarding the inflammatory response in African tick-bite fever (ATBF), an emerging spotted-fever-group rickettsiosis, in international travelers to sub-Saharan Africa, is scarce. Plasma/serum levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF), soluble (s) E-selectin, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, interferon-γ, IL-10, IL-13, IL-8, RANTES, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, and C-reactive protein were studied, at both first presentation and follow-up, in 15 patients with travel-associated ATBF and in 14 healthy travelers who served as control subjects. Our main and novel findings are the following: (1) patients with ATBF had increased levels of vWF and sE-selectin, with a subsequent decrease at follow-up; (2) with the exception of IFN-γ, levels of cytokines and chemokines were also increased in these patients at the first presentation; and (3) IL-10 and IL-13 tended to increase during follow-up, whereas most of the inflammatory cytokines decreased. The induction of these mediators and the balance between them may be critical both for the regulation of inflammation and for protective immunity in ATBF