J Clin Invest 2001, 108:523–526.PubMed Authors’ contributions YYJ conducted this study and Temsirolimus cost wrote the first manuscript. CCC correlated the sera of

subjects and performed the tests. YHB and LCC gave suggestions for the interpretation of results, while SBS provided the critical revision of the manuscript and reviewed the statistical analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes the worldwide zoonotic disease “”Q fever”". In humans, the disease generally arises from inhalation of the aerosolized Coxiella organisms produced by infected livestock. Acute Q fever usually presents as an influenza-like illness with various degrees of pneumonia [1],which may be self limiting or

effectively treated with antibiotics. However, chronic Q fever is typically manifested as endocarditis, osteomyelitis or infected aortic aneurysms [1, 2], and is difficult to treat. The clinical diagnosis of Q fever is mainly based on serological tests including indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and complement fixation (CF) [1–3]. These tests JNJ-26481585 have several limitations: large sample/reagent volume requirements, complex protocols, and www.selleckchem.com/products/prt062607-p505-15-hcl.html differing sensitivities and specificities [4]. Furthermore, they all need purified Coxiella organisms which are difficult and hazardous to culture and purify [3]. Identifying novel seroreactive proteins could be a step towards the development

of a fast, specific and safe molecular diagnostic assay instead of traditional serological tests. Immunoproteomic methods have been successfully applied in identifying seroreactive proteins of other pathogens Calpain [5, 6]. Several immunoproteomic studies on C. burnetii have also been reported with various seroreactive proteins identified [7–12]. In this study, the proteins of C. burnetii Xinqiao, a phase I strain isolated in China [13], were analyzed with sera from experimentally infected BALB/c mice and Q fever patients using immunoproteomic analysis. Results C. burnetii infection in BALB/c mice Five days post infection (pi), mice showed clinical symptoms: gathered together, reduced movement, ruffled fur, but no deaths occurred. The DNA samples extracted from tissues of the C. burnetii-infected mice were detected by qPCR. High levels of Coxiella DNA were found in liver and spleen tissues (Figure 1) and the highest level was found in tissues obtained on day 7 pi. The Coxiella load in spleen tissues was significantly higher than that in liver or lung tissues and significantly decreased by day 14 pi (Figure 1). Figure 1 The detection of C. burnetii load in BALB/c mice post-infection. Coxiella burnetii load in mice organs experimentally infected and tested by real-time quantitative PCR on 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days pi.