Journal
MICROBIAL PATHOGENESIS
Volume 45, Issue 3, Pages 201-206Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2008.05.004
Keywords
Otitis media; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Phase variation; Simulated middle ear environment; Human middle ear epithelial cell line
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Funding
- NIDCD NIH HHS [R03 DC007511, R03 DC007511-01A1, DC007511] Funding Source: Medline
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Streptococcus pneumoniae, a leading cause of otitis media (OM), undergoes spontaneous intra-strain variations in colony morphology. Transparent (T) variant is more efficient in colonizing the nasopharynx while the opaque (O) variant exhibits greater virulence during systemic infections. We hypothesized that changes in middle ear (ME) gas pressure/composition during Eustachian tube (ET) dysfunction and the treatment of that dysfunction, e.g., tympanostomy tube (TT) insertion, play a role in selecting the S. pneumoniae variant that can efficiently colonize/infect the ME mucosa. Human ME epithelial cells were preconditioned for 24 h under one of three conditions that simulated (1) normal ME, (2) ME with ET obstruction (ETC) and (3) ME with TT; subsequently exposed to a dose (similar to 10(7) CFU/ml) of either T or O variant of S. pneumoniae, and then incubated for 1 h and 3 h. Under the simulated ETO and TT conditions, T variant exhibited a higher growth rate and greater epithelial adherence and killing than did O variants. Attachment of T variant to epithelial cells was documented by scanning electron microscopy. These results suggest that the T variant is more highly adapted to various ME environments than the O variants. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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