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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420293
Research Project: Development of Improved Diagnostic and Control Strategies for Brucellosis in Livestock and Wildlife

Location: Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research

Title: Editorial: Spirochetal diseases (syphilis, Lyme disease, and leptospirosis): transmission, pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, prevention, and treatment

Author
item PAPPAS, CHRISTOPHER - Manhattan College
item HAMOND, CAMILA - Diagnostic Virology Laboratory/ National Veterinary Services Laboratories
item PETROSOVA, HELENA - University Of Victoria
item Putz, Ellie

Submitted to: Frontiers in Microbiology
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/16/2024
Publication Date: 10/30/2024
Citation: Pappas, C., Hamond, C., Petrosova, H., Putz, E.J. 2024. Editorial: Spirochetal diseases (syphilis, Lyme disease, and leptospirosis): transmission, pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions, prevention, and treatment. Frontiers in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1510000.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1510000

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Order Spirochaetales are Gram-negative and Gram-negative-like bacteria with unique morphological and functional features. They are distinguished from other bacteria by the presence of endoflagella, which gives this Phylum of bacteria spiral morphology and distinct motility (San Martin et al 2023). Their unusual cellular ultrastructure, motility, and metabolic pathways, immune evasion strategies, and gene regulation has evoked the maxim ‘spirochetes do it differently’ (Charon et al. 2012). Within the Phylum, there are several orders of spirochetes of importance to human health. These comprise Leptospirales and Spirochetales. The leptospires include the Genus Leptospira which have distinct pathogenic potential, comprising infectious and free-living non-infectious species. Pathogenic species (e.g.,- L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii) are the causative agents of the disease leptospirosis, which can manifest as fever, kidney and liver dysfunction, and Weil’s disease, among other sequelae (Adler and de la Pena Moctezuma 2009). Within Spirochetales are two Genera of importance to human health: Treponema and Borrelia. Treponema include several species of medical importance, including Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum, which is the etiologic agent of syphilis (Norris et al. 2015). In Borrelia, several species have been identified as the causative organisms of Lyme disease, including Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia garinii (Steere et al. 2016). Spirochetal diseases pose immense and growing global threats to human and animal health, as well as an economic burden to impacted communities.