Spatial organisation of microbiota in quiescent adenoiditis and tonsillitis

Abstract

Background: The reasons for recurrent adenotonsillitis are poorly understood. Methods: The in situ composition of microbiota of nasal (5 children, 25 adults) and of hypertrophied adenoid and tonsillar tissue (50 children, 20 adults) was investigated using a broad range of fluorescent oligonucleotide probes targeted to bacterial rRNA. None of the patients had clinical signs of infection at the time of surgery. Results: Multiple foci of ongoing purulent infections were found within hypertrophied adenoid and tonsillar tissue in 83% of patients, including islands and lawns of bacteria adherent to the epithelium, with concomitant marked inflammatory response, fissures filled with bacteria and pus, and diffuse infiltration of the tonsils by bacteria, microabscesses, and macrophages containing phagocytosed microorganisms. Haemophilus influenzae mainly diffusely infiltrated the tissue, Streptococcus and Bacteroides were typically found in fissures, and Fusobacteria, Pseudomonas and Burkholderia were exclusively located within adherent bacterial layers and infiltrates. The microbiota were always polymicrobial. Conclusions: Purulent processes persist during asymptomatic periods of adenotonsillitis. Most bacteria involved in this process are covered by a thick inflammatory infiltrate, are deeply invading, or are located within macrophages. The distribution of the bacteria within tonsils may be responsible for the failure of antibiotic treatment.

Spatial organization of intestinal microbiota in the mouse ascending colon

“…Microbes with similar morphology have previously been described in these regions. (Davis et al, 1973;Tannock 1987;Swidsinski et al, 2007a, c). Our goal was to best characterize the interfold microbes using a highresolution sampling method and current nucleic acid-based analytical techniques.…”

Protective Mechanisms of Respiratory Tract Streptococci against Streptococcus pyogenes Biofilm Formation and Epithelial Cell Infection

“…GAS form biofilms in vivo and in vitro (28)(29)(30). Several GAS virulence factors have been suggested to be involved in biofilm formation, including M protein, antigen I/II family polypeptide AspA, SpeB production, and the GAS pilus (31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36).…”

Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Versus Conventional PCR: A Comparison between two Methods for the Detection ofFusobacterium Nucleatumin Saliva, Nasopharyngeal Secretion and Middle Ear Effusion Samples

“…Given the appropriate primers, this method is rapid and simple and is able to detect very small numbers of cells of a given species compared with bacterial culturing methods. traditional culture techniques are also known to be less sensitive for identifying bacteria residing in biofilms (11,18). For example, MEE cultures yield positive results for only 20 % to 30 % of the patients (9) compared to up to 100 % positivity by PcR for pathogenic bacteria (2,10,14,20).…”