A comparative serological study of streptolysins derived from human and from animal infections, with notes on pneumococcal hæmolysin, tetanolysin and staphylococcus toxin

Todd, E. W.

doi:10.1002/path.1700390207

Cited by 91 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…All but two of these organisms produced strong lysins. This was in accord with the findings of Todd (13). Only seven of the NE strains produced strong lysins; in the remaining thirteen the streptolysins were too weak for serological examination.…”

supporting

confidence: 90%

Studies on the Immune Response of the Rheumatic Subject and Its Relationship to Activity of the Rheumatic Process. Iv. Characteristics of Strains of Hemolytic Streptococcus, Effective and Non-Effective in Initiating Rheumatic Activity 1

Coburn

Pauli²

1935

J. Clin. Invest.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The authors have reported ( 1 ) certain biological characteristics of strains of hemolytic streptococcus associated with pharyngeal infection, which appeared to reactivate the rheumatic process in individuals previously stigmatized with the disease. These organisms were in most instances Streptococcus pyogenes, according to Holman's classification; they produced skin toxin neutralizable by antiscarlatinal serum; they fell into six serological groups, and were indistinguishable from strains obtained from upper respiratory tract infection of non-rheumatic subjects. These studies also indicated that in many instances, perhaps 20 to 40 per cent, hemolytic streptococcus infection in individuals recognized to be rheumatic subjects is not followed by any clinical evidence of rheumatic activity. The failure of these patients to develop recrudescences suggested at least two possibilities: one, ineffectiveness of the strain; two, a refractory state of the host. The purpose of the present study was to determine, so far as possible with methods available, whether there are any demonstrable differences between those pathogenic agents which are effective and those which are non-effective in reactivating the rheumatic process.Forty strains collected from 38 individuals comprise the material for the present study. These organisms were selected from individuals who had had at least one attack of rheumatic fever, who had been under close observation for a period of two to six years, who did not appear to be carriers of hemolytic streptococcus, who had been free of all clinical evidence of rheumatic activity for at least six months, and who con- ' The work reported in this communication was carried out under The W. K. Kellogg Foundation. tracted, while being studied, a frank pharyngitis associated with the appearance of hemolytic streptococcus predominating in the throat flora. All of these infections occurred in the winter or spring months,2 and the possibility of a rheumatic recrudescence was expected in each instance. Half of the individuals developed severe attacks of rheumatic fever. The organisms isolated from these patients at the time of pharyngitis are considered effective and are designated " E." In the other half, the rheumatic process appeared to remain quiescent, insofar as it was possible to determine with the methods now available.3 The organisms isolated from the latter patients at the time of pharyngitis 4 were considered ineffective in initiating rheumatic activity and are designated "NE."y One of the first possible reasons to consider for the ineffectiveness of certain strains was that they might be of animal origin. Animal strains, as Lancefield (2) has demonstrated, show good 2The authors have observed that in New York City the hemolytic streptococcus throat infections occurring in the spring months have been more effective in initiating rheumatic activity than those in other seasons. A study of the toxin production of thirty strains of hemolytic streptococcus showed that of seven strains associated with f...

show abstract

supporting

confidence: 90%

Studies on the Immune Response of the Rheumatic Subject and Its Relationship to Activity of the Rheumatic Process. Iv. Characteristics of Strains of Hemolytic Streptococcus, Effective and Non-Effective in Initiating Rheumatic Activity 1

Coburn

Pauli²

1935

J. Clin. Invest.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The specificity of the antistreptolysin test (5,19) has been amply demonstrated by testing for their antistreptolysin content several sera from animals immunized to a variety of organisms. Practically without exception, the antistreptolysin titers of these immune sera were low (averaging 95 to 45 units or less per cc.).…”

Section: Results Of Antistreptolysin Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only by this means may adequate comparisons be made of published reports from different laboratories. Recognizing this fact, Todd (19) has set aside a quantity of serum of known antistreptolysin potency, to be used as an arbitrary standard in antistreptolysin determinations.…”

Section: Standardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Streptococcal Agglutinins and Antistreptolysins in Rheumatoid (Atrophic) Arthritis

Blair¹,

Hallman²

1935

J. Clin. Invest.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…A second important difference is that the E. faecalis cytolysin is not limited in target cell specificity to only prokaryotic cells. In fact, the E. faecalis cytolysin, originally identified as a hemolysin (43), has been shown to make an important contribution to the severity of disease in endophthalmitis (29) and endocarditis (6) models and the cytolytic phenotype is enriched among clinical isolates of the organism (22,26). The observation of an association between the E. faecalis cytolysin and bacterial virulence and the finding of similarities between the E. faecalis cytolysin and lantibiotics such as nisin (which has been approved for use in food in several countries [38]) indicate that the potential for engineering lantibiotics past some threshold where undesired toxic or cytolytic activities may arise exists.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic structure of the Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pAD1-encoded cytolytic toxin system and its relationship to lantibiotic determinants

et al. 1994

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pheromone-responsive conjugative plasmids are unique to the species Enterococcus faecalis. Many pheromone-responsive plasmids, including those frequently isolated from sites of infection, express a novel cytolysin that possesses both hemolytic and bacteriocin activities. Further, this cytolysin has been shown to be a toxin in several disease models. In the present study, nucleotide sequence determination, mutagenesis, and complementation analysis were used to determine the organization of the E. faecalis plasmid pAD1 cytolysin determinant. Four open reading frames are required for expression of the cytolysin precursor (cylL9, cylLS, cyiM, and cyiB). The inferred products of two of these open reading frames, Cyll and CylLs, constitute the cytolysin precursor and bear structural resemblance to posttranslationally modified bacteriocins termed lantibiotics. Similarities between the organization of the E. faecalis cytolysin determinant and expression units for lantibiotics exist, indicating that the E. faecalis cytolysin represents a new branch of this class and is the first known to possess toxin activity.Enterococcusfaecalis isolates derived from infection sites are more frequently hemolytic than isolates from the oral cavity or stools of healthy volunteers (22,26,48). The variable nature of the hemolytic phenotype results from the hemolysin determinant being located on highly transmissible, pheromone-responsive plasmids (e.g., pAD1; recently reviewed in references 8 and 9), although evidence has been obtained recently for its occasional residence on the E. faecalis genome (23). The observation of acute toxicity of hemolytic E. faecalis, when injected intraperitoneally in mice (25), suggested that the hemolysin may contribute to bacterial virulence in models of human disease. Hemolytic E. faecalis strains have been observed to cause a more rapid and fulminant endophthalmitis in a rabbit infection model than isogenic strains rendered nonhemolytic as the result of insertion of a transposon into various areas of the hemolysin determinant (29). Similar observations of an endocarditis model where hemolytic strains were found to be significantly more toxic than isogenic, nonhemolytic mutants have been made (6; for a recent review of enterococcal virulence, see reference 28).Contributing to virulence is a common motif for bacterial hemolysins (3,35,46,47). The E. faecalis hemolysin, however, is unique in that in addition to mediating lysis of erythrocytes, it also possesses antibacterial activity toward a broad range of gram-positive bacteria (4,5,27 Immediately 5' to cylA is cylB, whose nucleotide sequence has been reported (17). cylB is the first member of the HlyB family of ATP-binding transport proteins to have been identified in an operon from a gram-positive bacterium (15,17). CylB was observed to be essential for externalization of the E. faecalis cytolysin precursor activity, component L.Although a substantial amount of information describing (i) the protein that activates the E. faecalis cytolysin precursor extra...

show abstract

A comparative serological study of streptolysins derived from human and from animal infections, with notes on pneumococcal hæmolysin, tetanolysin and staphylococcus toxin

Cited by 91 publications

References 11 publications

Studies on the Immune Response of the Rheumatic Subject and Its Relationship to Activity of the Rheumatic Process. Iv. Characteristics of Strains of Hemolytic Streptococcus, Effective and Non-Effective in Initiating Rheumatic Activity 1

Studies on the Immune Response of the Rheumatic Subject and Its Relationship to Activity of the Rheumatic Process. Iv. Characteristics of Strains of Hemolytic Streptococcus, Effective and Non-Effective in Initiating Rheumatic Activity 1

Streptococcal Agglutinins and Antistreptolysins in Rheumatoid (Atrophic) Arthritis

Genetic structure of the Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pAD1-encoded cytolytic toxin system and its relationship to lantibiotic determinants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About