Inhibition of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by normal human saliva.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Saliva was a powerful and specific inhibitor of N. gonorrhoeae. Although 28 other species of bacteria were tested, including N. meningitidis, N. pharyngis var. flava, N. lactamica and N. catarrhalis, no others sensitive to saliva under similar conditions could be found. The physical properties of the inhibitory substance indicated that it might be salivary .alpha.-amylase. To test this hypothesis .alpha.-amylase was extracted from saliva and was shown to have a high antigonococcal activity. Hog pancreas .alpha.-amylase also showed strong antigonococcal activity, indicating that for the strains tested, .alpha.-amylase is inhibitory to gonococci. This observation indicates that the gonococcal outer cell wall contains some unique lipopolysaccharides or that the gonococcus is unusually dependent on the integrity of these moieties. Whichever speculation proves to be true it indicates a need for a careful study of the gonococcal cell wall.

This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit: