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Treponema Pallidum

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Treponema Pallidum

Human interactions resident microflora. Briefly describe the role of resident microbiota of

the human body.

Microorganisms that live beneath the stratum corneum's superficial cells and the skin's

surface make up the resident flora (Kilimovich et al., 2021). Resident microbiotas play a vital

role in human health because they fill niches that pathogenic microbes would otherwise occupy.

Give at least two areas colonized by different types of microorganisms. Include the name of

the microorganism.

The skin is infected by Treponema pallidum and Staphylococcus aureus. T. pallidum can

be found at the dermal-epidermal junction zone or throughout the skin's dermis (Grillova et al.,

2018). Streptococcus pneumoniae, group B Streptococcus, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus

influenzae, and Listeria monocytogenes all ivades the brain.

Determine whether your selected bacterial pathogen is part of the normal microbiota and

the parts of the body where these bacteria reside

Treponema pallidum is not part of the normal microbiota since it is the causative agent of

syphilis disease (Grillova et al., 2018). T. pallidum invades the skin, particularly the dermal-

epidermal junction zone or throughout the dermis. In addition, T. pallidum invades the CNS and

the eye, as evidenced by either abnormal laboratory tests or direct culture of the treponemes in

laboratory animals.

Pathogen invasion for your selected pathogen briefly describes the pathogen's invasion

process, including the portals of entry, attachment, way of establishment, virulence factors,

and exit portal.

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T. pallidum infects the host via penetrating the mucosal membranes or through

microscopic breaks in the skin. Virulence factors are several hemolysins, a membrane protein

that allows for nutritional permeability but is immune to antibodies, and ligands that facilitate

cytoadhesion. At the beginning of the sickness, a chancre containing the spirochete appears

(Lin., 2019). T. pallidum invades the bloodstream and lymphatics within hours to days of

penetrating the skin. T. pallidum most commonly causes late-stage illness by invading the aorta's

vasa vasorum and the CNS's arteries. Gummas, granulomatous lesions with coagulated or

amorphous cores, usually appear in the skin, liver, bones, and spleen.

Infection and disease. Describe the stages of clinical infection, patterns of infection, and

signs and symptoms of infection related to your selected pathogen or similar pathogen.

Describe the disease (s) caused by your selected pathogen, including the parts of the body

affected, symptoms, and modes of detection (e.g., tests). Present any other information

about the disease found relevant or unique/rare.

Primary syphilis

This stage of infection lasts for 3 to 90 days following the first infection: a single,

painless chancre or ulcer forms at the inoculation site. The base of the chancre is usually smooth,

with high and robust margins (Grillova et al., 2018). In most cases, the untreated lesion or lesions

heal on their own within 2 to 8 weeks.

Secondary syphilis

The stage of infection in which there is extensive dissemination to many areas of the

body results from the interplay between a significant spirochete load and the host's immune

response (Grillova et al., 2018). It takes an average of 6 weeks following vaccination for it to

become visible.
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Latent syphilis

It is the time after infection when there are no visible clinical symptoms despite the

presence of living organisms (Grillova et al., 2018). Clinical relapses are common in the first

year of the latent period and are caused by diminishing specific cellular immunity.

Tertiary or late syphilis

Ten to twenty-five years after the initial infection, the tertiary stage of syphilis occurs in

up to 35 percent of untreated patients. Neurosyphilis, cardiovascular syphilis, and syphilis are the

three types of late syphilis (Grillova et al., 2018). The latter two kinds were uncommon in the

antibiotic era due to frequent antibiotic exposure. However, today, neurosyphilis is the most

common manifestation of tertiary syphilis due to antibiotic penetration into the CNS being

generally low.

Explain the difference between infection and disease.

When bacteria, viruses, or other disease-causing organisms enter your body and begin to

reproduce, infection develops (Paskeviciute et al., 2018). A disease develops when body cells are

damaged, and there is appearance of signs and symptoms.

Agents for microbial control. Physical list of the major types of physical methods of

microbial control.

Physical agents include such control methods as high or low temperature, desiccation,

osmotic pressure, radiation, and filtration (Paskeviciute et al., 2018).

Describe the mode of action of at least two physical methods of control

Cold temperatures

In the refrigerator, cold temperatures are employed to keep microbial growth at bay.

Microbial metabolism slows down significantly at cold temperatures, and the reproduction rate is
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lowered (Paskeviciute et al., 2018). Cold temperatures, on the other hand, do not permanently

destroy germs. Ice crystals kill many bacteria present at freezing temperatures.

Radiations

When food or other materials are exposed to gamma rays or X rays, they control germs.

Radiation alters the chemical makeup of microorganisms by generating ions in the cytoplasm's

organic components (Paskeviciute et al., 2018). Toxic radicals with a high reactivity are formed

as well.

Identify one physical method used to control your selected pathogen or similar bacteria

and describe the mode of action. Chemical list of major categories of chemical processes of

microbial control.

Control by chemical agents refers to disinfectants, antiseptics, antibiotics, and

chemotherapeutic antimicrobial chemicals (Paskeviciute et al., 2018).

Identify at least two categories of chemical agents of control that may be used to control

your selected pathogen or similar bacteria; indicate the correct use, effectiveness, and

possible toxicity of the agent to humans.

Penicillin was the first antibiotic synthesized and effective against T. pallidum, and it is

still the treatment of choice today (Paskeviciute et al., 2018). However, Doxycycline is the most

effective treatment for both early and late-stage latent syphilis.

Chemotherapy mechanism of drug action.

Many chemotherapy drug resistance mechanisms include efflux, inactivation of drug,

alteration of drug targets, and cell death inhibition (Paskeviciute et al., 2018). A particular efflux

pathway involves the tumor producing a substance known as p-glycoprotein, which essentially

removes the drug from the tumor cell.

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Discuss the main characteristics of the ideal antimicrobial drug.

An ideal antimicrobial drug should possess the following features soluble in body fluids,

selectively toxic, nonallergenic, reasonable half-life, unlikely to elicit resistance, has a long shelf

life, and reasonably priced.

Discuss the significant modes of action in controlling microbial growth and give examples

of antimicrobials for each mode of action.

General mechanisms of action for antibiotics include inhibition of cell wall synthesis,

disruption of cell membrane function, inhibition of protein synthesis, inhibition of nucleic acid

synthesis, anti-metabolic activity (Paskeviciute et al., 2018).

Identify one antibacterial drug used to treat the disease caused by your selected pathogen.

Penicillin

Describe the mechanism of action of such antibacterial drug and the spectrum of

effectiveness

Penicillin's mode of action is by inhibiting cell wall synthesis and is effective against

Gram+ bacteria (Behmard et al., 2019).

Selecting antimicrobial drugs to explain how the appropriate antimicrobials are chosen for

specific diseases, including the Kirby-Bauer and MIC tests

The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test 

They are used in the identification of the susceptibility of microbes to certain

antimicrobials. Its assay starts with a Mueller-Hinton agar plate on which a confluent lawn is

inoculated with a patient's isolated bacterial pathogen. Filter paper disks impregnated with

known antibacterial drugs to be tested then placed on the agar plate (Yin et al., 2021). As the

bacterial inoculum grows, antibiotic diffuses from the circular disk into the agar and interact with
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the growing bacteria. Antibacterial activity is observed as a clear circular zone of

inhibition around the drug-impregnated disk. The diameter of the zone of inhibition, measured in

millimeters and compared to a standardized chart, determines the susceptibility or resistance of

the bacterial pathogen to the drug.

The MIC

Its assay is performed using 96-well microdilution trays, which allow for the use of small

volumes and automated dispensing devices and the testing of multiple antimicrobials and

microorganisms in one tray(Mouton et al., 2018). MICs are interpreted as the lowest

concentration that inhibits visible growth, the same as for the macro-broth dilution in test tubes.

Growth may also be interpreted visually or by using a spectrophotometer or similar device to

detect turbidity or a color change if an appropriate biochemical substrate that changes color in

the presence of bacterial growth is included in each well.

Identify a test, if any, used to identify the antimicrobial drugs used for your selected

pathogen.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

The syphilis ELISAs are automated tests that use a qualitative sandwich immunoassay

technique to detect T. pallidum-specific antibodies. An ELISA may detect only IgG or IgM but

most assays are polyvalent. An enzyme is coupled with anti-human antibodies, as is the case

with all ELISAs. A color shift will only occur in wells containing T. pallidum-specific antibodies

conjugated to the enzyme (Wang et al., 2019). ELISAs have similar sensitivity and specificity to

TPHAs and FTA-Abs. In all phases of syphilis, ELISA is more sensitive than the RPR test and

the MHA-TP, except for secondary syphilis, where all tests have 100% sensitivity. In the United

States, the TP ELISA tests are the most often used syphilis antibody tests.
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References

Lin, S. W., Gao, Z. X., Lin, L. R., Luo, X., Liu, L. L., & Yang, T. C. (2019). Treponema

pallidum enhances human monocyte migration and invasion by dysregulating the

MMP/TIMP balance. International immunopharmacology, 75, 105744.

Wang, Q., Lei, Y., Lu, X., Wang, G., Du, Q., Guo, X., ... & Wang, D. (2019). Urea-mediated

dissociation alleviates the false-positive Treponema pallidum-specific antibodies detected

by ELISA. PLoS One, 14(3), e0212893.

Yin, D., Guo, Y., Li, M., Wu, W., Tang, J., Liu, Y., ... & Hu, F. (2021). Performance of VITEK

2, E-test, Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion, and modified Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion

compared to reference broth microdilution for testing tigecycline susceptibility of

carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii in a multicenter study in

China. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 40(6), 1149-

1154.

Mouton, J. W., Muller, A. E., Canton, R., Giske, C. G., Kahlmeter, G., & Turnidge, J. (2018).

MIC-based dose adjustment: facts and fables. Journal of Antimicrobial

Chemotherapy, 73(3), 564-568.

Klimovich, A., Giacomello, S., Björklund, Å., Faure, L., Kaucka, M., Giez, C., ... & Bosch, T. C.

(2020). Prototypical pacemaker neurons interact with the resident

microbiota. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(30), 17854-17863.

Behmard, E., Najafi, A., & Ahmadi, A. (2019). Understanding the resistance mechanism of

penicillin-binding protein 1a mutant against cefotaxime using molecular dynamic

simulation. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 37(3), 741-749.

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Paskeviciute, E., Zudyte, B., & Luksiene, Z. (2018). Towards better microbial safety of fresh produce:

Chlorophyllin-based photosensitization for microbial control of foodborne pathogens on cherry

tomatoes. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 182, 130-136.

Grillová, L., Bawa, T., Mikalová, L., Gayet-Ageron, A., Nieselt, K., Strouhal, M., ... & Bosshard, P. P.

(2018). Molecular characterization of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum in Switzerland and

France with a new multilocus sequence typing scheme. PloS one, 13(7), e0200773.