Skip Navigation


QJM Advance Access originally published online on June 13, 2005
QJM 2005 98(8):565-574; doi:10.1093/qjmed/hci086
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
98/8/565    most recent
hci086v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Helbig, K.
Right arrow Articles by Marmion, B.P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Helbig, K.
Right arrow Articles by Marmion, B.P.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Physicians. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

Immune response genes in the post-Q-fever fatigue syndrome, Q fever endocarditis and uncomplicated acute primary Q fever

K. Helbig1, R. Harris1, J. Ayres2, H. Dunckley3, A. Lloyd4, J. Robson5 and B.P. Marmion1

From the 1Q fever Research Group IMVS and Hanson Institute, Adelaide, Australia, 2Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK, 3Tissue Typing, Australian Red Cross Blood Service and Research Unit of Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 4Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and 5Sullivan and Nicolaides Pathology, Brisbane, Australia

Address correspondence to Professor B.P. Marmion, 14 Birksgate Drive, Urrbrae 5064, South Australia.

Received 12 January 2005 and in revised form 6 April 2005

Background: The influence of immune response gene variations on the development of chronic complications of Q fever is presently unclear.

Aim: To compare the frequencies of allelic polymorphisms in immune response genes in different Q fever patient groups.

Design: Genetic association study.

Methods: We measured the frequencies of immune response gene variants in: (i) an expanded group of 31 post-Q-fever fatigue patients (QFS); (ii) 22 Q fever endocarditis patients (QFE); and (iii) 22 patients who made an uncomplicated recovery from their initial attack of primary acute Q fever, comparing them with various standard control panels from the general population.

Results: There were significant differences between the three Q fever groups. QFS patients differed from both QFE and uncomplicated patients and controls in the frequency of carriage of HLA-DRB1*11 and of the 2/2 genotype of the interferon-{gamma} intron1 microsatellite. Carriage of the HLA DRB1*11 allele was associated with reduced interferon-{gamma} and IL-2 responses from PBMC stimulated with ligand in short-term culture. QFE showed differences in the IL-10 promoter microsatellites R and G and had higher frequencies of the TNF-{alpha} receptor II 196R polymorphism. Q fever patients who had made an uncomplicated recovery differed from those with QFS or QFE, but were not significantly different in allelic frequencies to the control panels.

Discussion: These immunogenetic differences support the concept of different immune states in chronic Q fever, determined by genetic variations in host immune responses, rather than by solely properties of Coxiella burnetii.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Infect. Immun.Home page
P. A. Beare, N. Unsworth, M. Andoh, D. E. Voth, A. Omsland, S. D. Gilk, K. P. Williams, B. W. Sobral, J. J. Kupko III, S. F. Porcella, et al.
Comparative Genomics Reveal Extensive Transposon-Mediated Genomic Plasticity and Diversity among Potential Effector Proteins within the Genus Coxiella
Infect. Immun., February 1, 2009; 77(2): 642 - 656.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
QJMHome page
N. Unsworth, S. Graves, C. Nguyen, G. Kemp, J. Graham, and J. Stenos
Markers of exposure to spotted fever rickettsiae in patients with chronic illness, including fatigue, in two Australian populations
QJM, April 1, 2008; 101(4): 269 - 274.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]



Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.