Campylobacter jejuni-mediated disease pathogenesis:: an update

Infection by Compylobacter jejuni is considered to be the most prevalent cause of bacterial- mediated diarrhoeal. disease worldwide. Both in the developing and the developed world, young children remain most susceptible. Although disease is generally mild and self-limiting, severe post-infectious complications such as Gullain-Barre syndrome may occur. Despite the significant health burden caused by the organism, our current understanding of disease pathogenesis remains in its infancy. Elucidation of the genome sequences of many different C. jejuni strains in recent years has started to accelerate research in Campylobacter genetics, pathogenesis and host immunity in response to infection. Campylobacter jejuni is the first prokaryote shown to code for both O- and N-linked glycosytation systems, a feature that is likely to not only modulate bacterial virulence and survival, but also influence host-pathogen interactions and disease outcome. Here recent developments in C. jejuni research, with a particular focus on disease pathogenesis including early host immune responses, are highlighted. (c) 2007 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.