Mechanisms of pathogenesis, infective dose and virulence in human parasites.

ABSTRACT: The number of pathogens that are required to infect a host, termed infective dose, varies dramatically across pathogen species. It has recently been predicted that infective dose will depend upon the mode of action of the molecules that pathogens use to facilitate their infection. Specifically, pathogens which use locally acting molecules will require a lower infective dose than pathogens that use distantly acting molecules. Furthermore, it has also been predicted that pathogens with distantly acting immune modulators may be more virulent because they have a large number of cells in the inoculums, which will cause more harm to host cells. We formally test these predictions for the first time using data on 43 different human pathogens from a range of taxonomic groups with diverse life-histo

SUBMITTER: Leggett HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3280976 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature