Free Access
Issue
Vet. Res.
Volume 36, Number 2, March-April 2005
Page(s) 133 - 156
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/vetres:2004065
How to cite this article Vet. Res. (2005) 133-156
Vet. Res. 36 (2005) 133-156
DOI: 10.1051/vetres:2004065

How Mannheimia haemolytica defeats host defence through a kiss of death mechanism

Laurent Zecchinon, Thomas Fett and Daniel Desmecht

Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, FMV Sart-Tilman B43, 4000 Liège, Belgium

(Received 22 June 2004; accepted 6 October 2004)

Abstract - Mannheimia haemolytica induced pneumonias are only observed in goats, sheep and cattle. The bacterium produces several virulence factors,whose principal ones are lipopolysaccharide and leukotoxin. The latter is cytotoxic only for ruminant leukocytes, a phenomenon that is correlated with its ability to bind and interact with the ruminant $\beta$2-integrin Lymphocyte Function-associated Antigen 1. This paper globally reviews all the information available on host-pathogen interactions underlying respiratory mannheimiosis (formerly pasteurellosis), from the stable and the Petri dish to the biochemical cascade of events triggered by the leukotoxin inside ruminant leukocytes. One conclusion can be made: the most widespread cattle respiratory disease with the most important impact on beef production worldwide, is probably due to a tiny ruminant-specific focal variation in the CD18- and/or CD11a-expressing genes.


Key words: Mannheimia haemolytica / leukotoxin / $\beta$2-integrin / ruminant

Corresponding author: Daniel Desmecht daniel.desmecht@ulg.ac.be

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2005