ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2020
Burkholderia pseudomallei invades the olfactory nerve and bulb after epithelial injury in mice and causes the formation of multinucleated giant glial cells in vitro.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurological and Systemic Manifestations of Melioidosis: A Three-Case Series From Eastern India.Cureus · 2026Article
- Methodological issue in a dental neuromelioidosis outbreak investigation-authors' reply.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2025Article
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- Virulence of Burkholderia pseudomallei ATS2021 Unintentionally Imported to United States in Aromatherapy Spray.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Olfactory immunology: the missing piece in airway and CNS defence.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2024Review
- Type VI Secretion System Accessory Protein TagAB-5 PromotesBiomedicines · 2023Article
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- Cycle-Inhibiting Factor Is Associated withBiology · 2022Article
- Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect the central nervous system via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves and contributes to Alzheimer's disease risk.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Neuroinflammation in neurodegenerationFrontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Differences in gut microbiota correlate with symptoms and regional brain volumes in patients with late-life depression.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
- Article
- Antimicrobial responses of peripheral and central nervous system glia against Staphylococcus aureus.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Phagocytosis by Peripheral Glia: Importance for Nervous System Functions and Implications in Injury and Disease.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
- Multinucleated Giant Cell Formation as a Portal to Chronic Bacterial Infections.Microorganisms · 2020Review
- Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The infectious disease melioidosis is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Melioidosis is characterised by high mortality and morbidity and can involve the central nervous system (CNS). We have previously discovered that B. pseudomallei can infect the CNS via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves in mice. We have shown that the nerve path is dependent on mouse strain, with outbred mice showing resistance to olfactory nerve infection. Damage to the nasal epithelium by environmental factors is common, and we hypothesised that injury to the olfactory epithelium may increase the vulnerability of the olfactory nerve to microbial insult. We therefore investigated this, using outbred mice that were intranasally inoculated with B. pseudomallei, with or without methimazole-induced injury to the olfactory neuroepithelium. Methimazole-mediated injury resulted in increased B. pseudomallei invasion of the olfactory epithelium, and only in pre-injured animals were bacteria found in the olfactory nerve and bulb. In vitro assays demonstrated that B. pseudomallei readily infected glial cells isolated from the olfactory and trigeminal nerves (olfactory ensheathing cells and trigeminal Schwann cells, respectively). Bacteria were degraded by some cells but persisted in other cells, which led to the formation of multinucleated giant cells (MNGCs), with olfactory ensheathing cells less likely to form MNGCs than Schwann cells. Double Cap mutant bacteria, lacking the protein BimA, did not form MNGCs. These data suggest that injuries to the olfactory epithelium expose the primary olfactory nervous system to bacterial invasion, which can then result in CNS infection with potential pathogenic consequences for the glial cells.
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