Augmented Production of Extracellular Superoxide by Blood Isolates of Enterococcus faecalis
Open Access
- 1 March 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 173 (3) , 743-745
- https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/173.3.743
Abstract
To assess the frequency of extracellular superoxide (O2−) production by enterococci, multiple species were surveyed in a whole organism assay for their ability to reduce ferricytochrome c in a superoxide dismutase-inhibitable fashion. For stool and clinical enterococcal isolates and 12 type strains, only Enterococcus faecalis (87/91 isolates and ATCC 19443), Enterococcus faecium (5/13 isolates), Enterococcus casselijlavus (ATCC 25788), and Enterococcus gallinarum (ATCC 35038) produced extracellular O2−. Among 106 strains comprising 13 species of enteric gram-negative bacilli and gram-positive cocci, only Lactococcus lactis subspecies lactis produced extracellular O2−, Mean (±SE) rates of extracellular O2− production in vitro by E. faecalis for isolates associated with bacteremia and endocarditis and for isolates from stool were 2.4 ± 0.2, 1.9 ± 0.2, and 1.5 ± 0.3 nmol of O2− min−1 109 cfu−1, respectively (P = .025, analysis of variance), suggesting an association between invasiveness and extracellular O2− production.Keywords
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