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Paediatric Pulmonology and Allergology
2003 October, Vol. VI, No. 2 (pp.2303-2311)
Phylogenesis, structure and virulence factors of mycoplasmas
Ramune Mykolaitiene, Irena Dumalakiene, Vytautas Baciulis
Most Mollicutes live as normal human flora in the respiratory, urogenital and digestive tract. Mycoplasmal infections could be acute, chronic, subclinical, and stimulate host autoimmune response. Know virulence factors involved in the pathogenesis of Mycoplasma spp. diseases are the motility of these cell-wall-less bacteria, adherence to host cells which mainly depends on a high molecular weight adhesin, adaptation to the host environment, possession of mechanismus for evading phagocytosis, secretion of substances damaging the host cells, and the induction of pathological immune responses. Clearly, pathogenesis is a multifactorial event based on various virulence factors, as well as the complex role of host response mechanisms, which are responsible for the long-lasting sequelae of Mycoplasma spp. diseases. In this paper we review the taxonomy and virulence factors of Mycoplasma spp.