MRSA and the Immune System
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Posted by Judy Arbique Nov 15, 2007 |
While attending a meeting in Philadelphia earlier this week my attention was drawn to a CNN news report that warned of damages to the immune system by MRSA. The news reports which appeared on most major news networks derived from a press release from the Natural Institutes of Health (NIH) on November 11, 2007.
Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), described proteins in antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus that attract and destroy neutrophils – white blood cells involved in protecting the body from infection. The protein, phenol-soluble modulin (PSM) is a major factor contributing to the severity of infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, including antibiotic-resistant strains recently recognized in the community known as community associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA).
The severity of some community acquired MRSA infections had previously been linked to Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin, but was shown by the same group of researchers in November 2006 not to be the key virulence factor.
Read more about Staphyloccus aureus and MRSA:
Drug-Resistant Bacteria: Relationship Between Community and Hospital-Acquired Infections
Staph and Methicillin Resistance: Superbug Infections
Methicillin Resistant Staph: Superbug Infections
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