Cholera remains one of the most severe diseases caused by Vibrio cholerae, a gram-negative bacterium spreading mostly via water. Cholera toxin, the main pathogenic factor, induces intracellular cAMP and initiates Cl– secretion by the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and inhibits the electroneutral NaCl absorption (Satitsri et al., 2016). The increased secretion of Na+ into the intestine leads to secretory diarrhea and consequent dehydration.
In this assignment, the scholarly article devoted to the Vibrio cholerae O1 serotype, El Tor biotype will be summarized. Satitsri et al. (2016) studied the pathophysiology of cholera and created a ligated model of mice’s ileal loop inducing the disorder of intestinal barrier implementing cholera toxin produced by classical biotype of V. cholerae. The results showed the intestinal barrier disruption was connected only with the El Tor biotype, and secretory diarrhea caused by the classical biotype was fully repealed by CFTP-inhibitor (Satitsri et al., 2016).
The authors also studied El Tor cholera toxin initiating molecular mechanisms that could enhance intestinal fluid secretion: intestine inflammation involving TLR-4 and NF-kB receptors. As a result, the researchers proved the involvement of the latter and showed a decent example of studying pathophysiological mechanisms to find innovative ways for cholera treatment.
Reference
Satitsri, S., Pongkorpsakol, P., Srimanote, P., Chatsudthipong, V., & Muanprasat, C. (2016). Pathophysiological mechanisms of diarrhea caused by the Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor variant: An in vivo study in mice. Virulence, 7(7), 789–805. Web.