Cassard, A.-M. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2021

Cytolysin-positive Enterococcus faecalis is elevated in patients with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis

IntroductionPatients with alcoholic hepatitis have an increase in cytolysin-producing Enterococcus faecalis that correlates with disease severity and mortality. AimTo determine whether patients with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis have an elevated abundance of cytolysin-producing E. faecalis. MethodsQuantification by qPCR of cytolysin-producing E. faecalis in controls and patients with alcoholic hepatitis or pancreatitis. ResultsPatients with alcoholic pancreatitis had a higher proportion of intestinal cytolysin-positive E. faecalis than healthy controls and patients with alcoholic hepatitis. ConclusionCytolytic E. faecalis may also be involved in this other alcohol-related complication and benefit from targeted microbiota editing strategies.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2021

The unforeseen intracellular lifestyle of Enterococcus faecalis in hepatocytes

Enterococcus faecalis is a bacterial species present at a sub-dominant level in the human gut microbiota. This commensal turns into an opportunistic pathogen under specific conditions involving dysbiosis and host immune deficiency. E. faecalis is also the only intestinal pathobiont identified to date as contributing to liver damage in alcoholic liver disease. We have previously observed that E. faecalis is internalized in hepatocytes. Here, the survival and fate of E. faecalis was examined in hepatocytes, the main epithelial cell type in the liver. Although referred to as an extracellular pathogen, we demonstrate that E. faecalis is able to survive and divide in hepatocytes, and form intracellular clusters in two distinct hepatocyte cell lines, in primary mouse hepatocytes, as well as in vivo. This novel process extends to kidney cells. Unravelling the intracellular lifestyle of E. faecalis, our findings contribute to the understanding of pathobiont-driven diseases.

microbiology↗