Neisseria Gonorrhoeae Infections Neisseria • María-Teresa Pérez-Gracia and Beatriz Suay-García Beatriz and • María-Teresa Pérez-Gracia
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Neisseria Infections gonorrhoeae • María-Teresa Pérez-Gracia • María-Teresa and Beatriz Suay-García Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections Edited by María-Teresa Pérez-Gracia and Beatriz Suay-García Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Pathogens www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections Editors Mar´ıa-Teresa P´erez-Gracia Beatriz Suay-Garc´ıa MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade • Manchester • Tokyo • Cluj • Tianjin Editors Mar´ıa-Teresa Perez-Gracia´ Beatriz Suay-Garc´ıa Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities CEU Universities Spain Spain Editorial Office MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 4052 Basel, Switzerland This is a reprint of articles from the Special Issue published online in the open access journal Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817) (available at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens/special issues/Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections). For citation purposes, cite each article independently as indicated on the article page online and as indicated below: LastName, A.A.; LastName, B.B.; LastName, C.C. Article Title. Journal Name Year, Volume Number, Page Range. ISBN 978-3-0365-0790-3 (Hbk) ISBN 978-3-0365-0791-0 (PDF) © 2021 by the authors. Articles in this book are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. The book as a whole is distributed by MDPI under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. Contents About the Editors .............................................. vii Beatriz Suay-Garc´ıa and Mar´ıa-Teresa P´erez-Gracia Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections Reprinted from: Pathogens 2020, 9, 647, doi:10.3390/pathogens9080647 ............... 1 Susu M. Zughaier, Corinne E. Rouquette-Loughlin and William M. Shafer Identification of a Neisseria gonorrhoeae Histone Deacetylase: Epigenetic Impact on Host Gene Expression Reprinted from: Pathogens 2020, 9, 132, doi:10.3390/pathogens9020132 ............... 5 Johan H. Melendez, Yu-Hsiang Hsieh, Mathilda Barnes, Justin Hardick, Elizabeth A. Gilliams and Charlotte A. Gaydos Can Ciprofloxacin be Used for Precision Treatment of Gonorrhea in Public STD Clinics? Assessment of Ciprofloxacin Susceptibility and an Opportunity for Point-of-Care Testing Reprinted from: Pathogens 2019, 8, 189, doi:10.3390/pathogens8040189 ............... 21 Chris Kenyon To What Extent Should We Rely on Antibiotics to Reduce High Gonococcal Prevalence? Historical Insights from Mass-Meningococcal Campaigns Reprinted from: Pathogens 2020, 9, 134, doi:10.3390/pathogens9020134 ............... 29 Thomas Meyer and Susanne Buder The Laboratory Diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Current Testing and Future Demands Reprinted from: Pathogens 2020, 9, 91, doi:10.3390/pathogens9020091 ................ 37 Maria Victoria Humbert and Myron Christodoulides Atypical, Yet Not Infrequent, Infections with Neisseria Species Reprinted from: Pathogens 2020, 9, 10, doi:10.3390/pathogens9010010 ................ 57 Christophe Van Dijck, Jolein G.E. Laumen, Achilleas Tsoumanis, Sheeba S. Manoharan-Basil and Chris Kenyon Commensal Neisseria Are Shared between Sexual Partners: Implications for Gonococcal and Meningococcal Antimicrobial Resistance Reprinted from: Pathogens 2020, 9, 228, doi:10.3390/pathogens9030228 ............... 85 v About the Editors Mar´ıa-Teresa P´erez-Gracia (PhD). She is currently a Full Professor of Microbiology at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University (Valencia, Spain). She holds a PhD degree with distinction in Biological Sciences from the University of Santiago de Compostela and she is a specialist in microbiology and parasitology. She has been Associate Professor of Microbiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cadiz,´ collaborating in research and diagnostic tasks in the Microbiology Service and in the Research Unit of the University Hospital of Puerto Real (Cadiz).´ She was responsible for the doctorate course “Bacterial Resistance to Antimicrobials” of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University. Currently, she directs a research line called “Molecular Diagnosis in Clinical Microbiology” on the study and detection of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and its implications in public health, and the development and implementation of new molecular diagnostic techniques. She has received several awards, among which are the ”CADIZ”´ Prize of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Cadiz´ and the Angel Herrera Award for the best teaching work in the Faculty of Experimental Sciences and Health. She collaborates in the Doctorate Program “Cellular and molecular bases of human pathology” in the University of Cadiz.´ She was coordinator of the Advanced Specialization Degree in Clinical Analysis. She is an evaluator of projects belonging to the area of Clinical Sciences and Public Health of the Fund for Scientific and Technological Research (FONCYT) of the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion (ANPCYT) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (Argentine Republic), of the General Directorate of Scientific Research and Innovation in Health of the Ministry of Health (Italy), of the National Science Centre in Physical Sciences and Engineering (Poland), the HORIZON 2020 FET-OPEN-NOVEL IDEAS FOR RADICALLY NEW TECHNOLOGIES, Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) (European Commission) and of the National Biopharma Mission Program Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) (Government of India). She belongs to the editorial committees of several international journals and is a reviewer of scientific articles for more than 50 international journals. She is a corresponding academician at the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Cadiz´ and a member of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC) and Spanish Society of Microbiology (SEM). Beatriz Suay-Garcia (PhD). She is currently is a research assistant at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University (Valencia, Spain). She holds a PhD degree with distinction in Pharmacy from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University. Her research is focused on antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic development. vii pathogens Editorial Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections Beatriz Suay-García 1 and María-Teresa Pérez-Gracia 2,* 1 ESI International Chair@CEU-UCH, Departamento de Matemáticas, Física y Ciencias Tecnológicas, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, San Bartolomé 55, 46115 Alfara del Patriarca (Valencia), Spain; [email protected] 2 Área de Microbiología. Departamento de Farmacia, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, C/Ramón y Cajal s/n, 46115 Alfara del Patriarca (Valencia), Spain * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +34-961-369-000 (ext. 64332) Received: 10 August 2020; Accepted: 10 August 2020; Published: 12 August 2020 Abstract: Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease with a high morbidity burden. Despite having guidelines for its treatment, the incidence of the disease follows an increasing trend worldwide. This is mainly due to the appearance of antibiotic-resistant strains, inefficient diagnostic methods and poor sexual education. Without an effective vaccine available, the key priorities for the control of the disease include sexual education, contact notification, epidemiological surveillance, diagnosis and effective antibiotic treatment. This Special Issue focuses on some of these important issues such as the molecular mechanisms of the disease, diagnostic tests and different treatment strategies to combat gonorrhea. Keywords: Neisseria gonorrhoeae; sexually transmitted infection; transmission; diagnosis; antibiotic treatment Neisseria gonorhoeae is an obligate human pathogen that causes gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease (STD). This Gram-negative diplococcus is highly infective due to its virulence factors: pili, Por proteins, Opa proteins, Rmp proteins, lipooligosaccharides and IgA protease. The most common form of presentation in men is acute anterior urethritis, while gonococcal infection in women does not have specific symptoms. Although the prevailing view is that infections in women are mainly asymptomatic whereas infections in men are not, many studies show that asymptomatic infections are prevalent in both sexes. Gonorrhea is primarily transmitted from an infected individual by direct human-to-human contact between the mucosal membranes of the urogenital tract, anal canal and the oropharynx, usually during sexual activities. Gonorrhea is a community disease with a high morbidity burden, representing 88 million of the estimated 448 million new cases of curable STDs that occur yearly worldwide [1]. Furthermore, the incidence of the disease is rising due to the prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains [2]. In fact, the appearance of resistances in this microorganism threatens the effectiveness of the available gonorrhea treatments to such extent that it has been classified as a “Priority 2” microorganism in the WHO Global Priority List of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria to Guide Research, Discovery, and Development of New Antibiotics [3]. Ever since sulphonamides were introduced to treat gonorrhea in the 1930s, gonococci have continuously shown an extraordinary ability to develop resistance to any antimicrobial introduced for treatment [4]. Treatment is currently given