Guest guest Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 2008;635:135-46. The damage-response framework of microbial pathogenesis and infectious diseases. Pirofski LA, Casadevall A. Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. Historical and most currently held views of microbial pathogenesis and virulence are plagued by confusing and imprecise terminology and definitions that require revision and exceptions to accommodate new basic science and clinical information about microbes and infectious diseases. These views are also inherently unable to account for the ability of some microbes to cause disease in certain, but not other hosts, because they are grounded in singular, either microbe-or host-centric views. The damage-response framework is an integrated theory of microbial pathogenesis that puts forth the view that microbial pathogenesis reflects the outcome of an interaction between a host and a microbe, with each entity contributing to the nature of the outcome, which in turn depends on the amount of host damage that results from the host-microbe interaction. This view is able to accommodate new information and explain why infection with the same microbe can have different outcomes in different hosts. This chapter describes the origins and conceptual underpinnings of and the outcomes of infection put forth in, the damage-response framework. PMID: 18841709 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] 2007 Nov;8(11):1143-7. In vivo veritas: pathogenesis of infection as it actually happens. Virgin HW. Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. virgin@... Host-microbe interactions define the life histories of all organisms. We live and die surrounded by harmless and harmful organisms that affect us in a multitude of ways and are themselves affected by our responses. Generations of such reciprocal interactions have produced homeostasis between us and some microbes (commensals), but not between us and others (pathogens), whereas still other microbes (opportunists) change status depending on the host. The study of pathogenesis seeks to define in molecular and genetic terms the difference between these outcomes with the hope of finding ways to prevent disease without losing the symbiotic benefits of microbial colonization. PMID: 17952037 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.