What is it about?
Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease with a major burden on developing countries—the current media used by laboratories for the culture and growth of the pathogen, Leptospira spp. (EMJH AND HAN), are complex in their composition and to produce, lack a standard formula, include essential expensive components, like Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), and mostly maintain cells at temperatures that don't match the host or reservoir's normal temperature. Having a medium that is less complex, available worldwide, lower-cost, and capable of mimicking the host environment would benefit overall research on this important pathogen.
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Why is it important?
We characterize the in vitro growth of virulent Leptospira sp. using different media and conditions commonly used in various mammalian cell types and compared to leptospires directly from the blood of infected animals. We identified EMEM and DMEM as good alternative media to grow leptospires in a host-like environment (37 °C and 5% CO2). We observed that leptospires cultured on those media can grow faster than traditional media, and their genetic signature and lipid A structure, related to pathogenesis, are similar to those of spirochetes multiplying during the process of infection in the host.
Perspectives
The impact of leptospirosis is greater on developing countries. As a neglected tropcial disease, the opportunity for researchers from those countries to work on leptospirosis relies on the availabolity of funds, which are scarce. Basic leptospiral research, like serological assays and isolation of the pathogen, require large amounts of media, and the quality of the media impacts the outcomes of reaearch. My hope is that the potential to use a commercially available media that can be found worldwide at lower costs and that can mimic conditios of the host, can simplify the culture of leptospires, faciliate and increase research, thus allowing for new discoveries on this important neglected disease.
Elsio Wunder
University of Connecticut
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: DMEM and EMEM as alternate growth media for pathogenic Leptospira, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, March 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0014136.
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