Open AccessDevelopment of a 3-transcript host expression assay to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections in pigs
Author(s) -
Bernt Hjertner,
Claudia Lützelschwab,
Elise Schieck,
Benjamin M. Nzau,
Sonal P. Henson,
Marie Sjölund,
Caroline Fossum,
Ulf Magnusson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0256106
Subject(s) - biology , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae , virology , gene expression profiling , genetics
Indiscriminate use of antibiotics to treat infections that are of viral origin contributes to unnecessary use which potentially may induce resistance in commensal bacteria. To counteract this a number of host gene transcriptional studies have been conducted to identify genes that are differently expressed during bacterial and viral infections in humans, and thus could be used as a tool to base decisions on the use of antibiotics. In this paper, we aimed to evaluate the potential of a selection of genes that have been considered biomarkers in humans, to differentially diagnose bacterial from viral infections in the pig. First porcine PBMC were induced with six toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists (FliC, LPS, ODN 2216, Pam3CSK4, poly I:C, R848) to mimic host gene expression induced by bacterial or viral pathogens, or exposed to heat-killed Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae or a split influenza virus. Genes that were differentially expressed between bacterial and viral inducers were further evaluated on clinical material comprising eleven healthy pigs, and six pigs infected with A . pleuropneumoniae . This comprised three virally upregulated genes ( IFI44L , MxA , RSAD2 ) and four bacterially upregulated genes (IL-1β, IL-8 , FAM89A , S100PBP ). All six infected pigs could be differentially diagnosed to healthy pigs using a host gene transcription assay based on the geometric average of the bacterially induced genes IL-8 and S100PBP over that of the virally induced gene MxA .