Which bacteria invade submucosa as a mechanism of disease?

Which bacteria invade submucosa as a mechanism of disease?

• A. Escherichia coli
• B. Campylobacter jejuni
• C. Helicobacter pylori
• D. Listeria monocytogenes

Answer: (A)

Invading beneath the surface of the mucosa to trigger disease is a pattern seen with invasive bacterial pathogens. The one that best fits this mechanism among the options is an invasive form of Escherichia coli. The enteroinvasive type behaves similarly to Shigella: it penetrates colonic epithelial cells and then invades the underlying submucosa, provoking a strong inflammatory response with mucosal ulcers and bloody diarrhea. This submucosal invasion is central to the pathology it causes. Helicobacter pylori mainly adheres to the surface of the gastric mucosa and induces chronic gastritis without deep submucosal invasion. Campylobacter jejuni causes mucosal inflammation by invading the epithelium, but it is not classically described as a submucosal invader. Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular pathogen that crosses barriers and spreads cell to cell, with disease driven by intracellular survival and systemic spread rather than a primary submucosal invasion.

Invading beneath the surface of the mucosa to trigger disease is a pattern seen with invasive bacterial pathogens. The one that best fits this mechanism among the options is an invasive form of Escherichia coli. The enteroinvasive type behaves similarly to Shigella: it penetrates colonic epithelial cells and then invades the underlying submucosa, provoking a strong inflammatory response with mucosal ulcers and bloody diarrhea. This submucosal invasion is central to the pathology it causes.

Helicobacter pylori mainly adheres to the surface of the gastric mucosa and induces chronic gastritis without deep submucosal invasion. Campylobacter jejuni causes mucosal inflammation by invading the epithelium, but it is not classically described as a submucosal invader. Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular pathogen that crosses barriers and spreads cell to cell, with disease driven by intracellular survival and systemic spread rather than a primary submucosal invasion.