Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
20
A Non-Human Primate Model of Acute Group
A
Streptococcus
Pharyngitis
Paul Sumby, Anne H. Tart, and James M. Musser
Summary
This chapter describes methods for using non-human primates as a model of group
A streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis. This model has been used successfully to study
host-pathogen interactions occurring during pharyngeal GAS infections. The protocol
as described will compare two different GAS strains for their ability to cause clinical
symptoms of pharyngitis.
Key Words:
Streptococcus pyogenes
; GAS; pharyngitis; animal model; non-human
primate.
1. Introduction
The human bacterial pathogen group A
Streptococcus
(GAS) causes
a wide variety of diseases including pharyngitis and/or tonsillitis, scarlet
fever, pyoderma, toxic shock syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, poststreptococcal
glomerulonephritis, and acute rheumatic fever (ARF)
(1,2,3)
. Annually, GAS
infections account for an estimated 30 million cases of pharyngitis and 15,000
cases of invasive disease in the United States alone
(3,4,5)
. In addition to the
extensive morbidity and mortality associated with GAS infections in the United
States, the financial impact of these infections runs at over 1.5 billion dollars
in direct health care costs
(3,4,5)
. Failure to treat GAS pharyngitis may lead
to the post-GAS infection sequel ARF and subsequently to the development
of rheumatic heart disease. Although antibiotic treatment of GAS pharyngitis
patients has drastically reduced the incidence of these forms of heart disease in
the United States and Western Europe, they remain the most common cause of
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