Abstract:
Burkholderia pseudomallei is a pathogen that causes serious infection in
melioidosis patients. This gram-negative facultative intracellular bacteria must obtain iron
from hosts to support its life. However, little is known about the role of iron in B.
pseudomallei infection. In this study, inducing iron overload in human epithelial cell lines,
HeLa and A549 was effected and examined for the effect of iron overloaded host cells on
the ability of B. pseudomallei to invade, survive and replicate, and induce multinucleated
giant cell formation within infected host cells. Hosts were treated with ferrous sulfate
(FeSO4). Intracellular ferritin was measured by enzyme immunoassay to determine iron
status before infecting with B. pseudomallei. Data from plaque formation assays
demonstrated that HeLa cells loaded with 10 mM FeSO4 were significantly susceptible to
infection by B. pseudomallei (1.75±0.02x10-3) when compared with untreated cells
(0.62±0.010x10-3). Invasion efficiency of B. pseudomallei to invade 5 mM FeSO4 treated
A549 cells was significantly higher than control (4.23±0.14 vs. 0.43±0.001). Additionally,
kinetics of the number of intracellular B. pseudomallei in iron overloaded A549 cells was
increased with time and greater than control condition. Multinucleated giant cell (MNGC)
formation in iron overloaded A549 cells infected B. pseudomallei was faster and bigger than
in the infected control cells. These findings suggest that the increased pathogenesis of
B.pseudomallei may occur as a result of greater iron availability supporting B. pseudomallei
growth or that iron overload may have detrimental effects on host cells leading to an
increased susceptibility to infection.