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- Title
Comparative Susceptibility of Group B Streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus to Killing by Oxygen Metabolites.
- Authors
Wilson, Christopher B.; Weaver, William M.
- Abstract
Group B streptococci (GBS) lack catalase, and they produce and release H2O2; thus, they should be readily killed by phagocytes with a diminished respiratory burst. Surprisingly, although strains of Staphylococcus aureus were killed at H2O2 concentrations > 0.5 mM, GBS strains were killed only at concentrations >5mM. In contrast, GBS were killed by hydroxyl radicals generated by the xanthine oxidase-acetaldehyde system at O2 fluxes ⩾3.5 nmol/ml per min, whereas O2 fluxes ⩾10 nmol/ml per min were required to kill the S. aureus strains. Results with virulent and laboratory strains of GBS were similar. The differences in susceptibility of GBS and S. aureus seemed to correlate with differences in content of endogenous oxygen-metabolite scavengers. GBS contained ∼100-fold more glutathione and ∼20-fold more glutathione reductase than did S. aureus, whereas S. aureus was rich in catalase that GBS lacked. GBS that were grown in buthionine sulfoximine, however, contained 87% less glutathione than did controls but were not more susceptible to killing by H2O2 or the xanthine oxidase-acetaldehyde system. Similarly, the relative susceptibility of GBS to tert-butyl hydroperoxide and H2O2 paralleled that of S. aureus. Thus, inherent differences in susceptibility of vital cellular functions to oxidative damage rather than content of oxygen-metabolite scavengers may account for the differences in susceptibility of GBS and S. aureus.
- Publication
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1985, Vol 152, Issue 2, p323
- ISSN
0022-1899
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/infdis/152.2.323