Immune response feeds parasite

Salmonella is able to out compete resident gut microbes by deriving energy from the immune response that is supposed to combat the pathogen, according to a study published this week in Nature.

Salmonella typhimurium Image: Wikimedia commons, Volker Brinkmann, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany

"It was a surprise," said microbiologist linkurl:Samuel Miller;http://depts.washington.edu/daid/faculty/miller.htm of the University of Washington, who was not involved in the research. "[Salmonella] is using [the host immune response] to its own advantage." It's an "interesting story," added linkurl:Brett Finlay;http://www.finlaylab.msl.ubc.ca/ of the University of British Columbia, who also did not participate in the study, in an email -- "a real twist on pathogenic mechanisms." Salmonella enterica (specifically, serotype Typhimurium) is a gut parasite known to cause diarrhea and intestinal inflammation. The inflammatory response is part of a multipronged host immune response aimed at eliminating the bacteria, but recent studies have suggested that...