Fatty Acid Composition and Shwartzman Activity of Lipopolysaccharides from Oral Bacteria

Abstract

The composition and the nature of the linkage of fatty acids and the Shwartzman activity of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) preparations derived from oral gram-negative bacteria including Bacteroides gingivalis, Bacteroides loesheii, Eikenella corrodens, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans were examined. 3-Hydroxylated and nonhydroxy fatty acids of various chain lengths were found in all of the LPS preparations. All nonhydroxy fatty acids were found to be ester-bound, and part of the 3-hydroxy fatty acids in the LPS of B. gingivalis, E. corrodens, F. nucleatum, and A. actinomycetemcomitans were shown to be involved in ester linkage. It was also suggested that the hydroxy group of the ester-bound 3-hydroxy fatty acid of the LPS of F. nucleatum and A. actinomycetemcomitans is at least partly substituted by another fatty acid, but in the LPS of B. gingivalis and E. corrodens it is not. The main amide-linked fatty acid of the LPS of B. gingivalis, E. corrodens, F. nucleatum, and A. actinomycetemcomitans was 3-hydroxyheptadecanoic, 3-hydroxydodecanoic, 3-hydroxyhexadecanoic, and 3-hydroxytetradecanoic acid, respectively. The results of the Shwartzman assay showed that the E. corrodens LPS was the most active among the preparations tested, and that the Shwartzman toxicity of Bacteroides LPS is extremely low.Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) bearing some different chemical features from Salmonella LPS has been found in several species of oral gram-negative bacteria. In the earlier studies by Hofstad et al (5, 6) and Kasper et al (9,12), LPS that lacks heptose and 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (KDO) has been isolated from Bacteroides species. Recently, an unusual fatty acid composition including branched and odd-numbered long chain 3-hydroxy acids was identified in the LPS of B. fragilis and of related Bacteroides species by Wollenweber et al (23). A fatty acid spectrum similar to that of B. fragilis LPS was also shown in a purified LPS preparation of B. gingivalis by Nair et al (13). More recently, another unusual LPS preparation containing only nonhydroxy fatty acids was isolated from Eikenella corrodens by Progulske et al (15,16).

Chemical, immunobiological and antigenic characterizations of lipopolysaccharides from Bacteroides gingivalis strains

“…As no fragment ion peaks specific for the branch were detected, it is suggested that the branching site is separate from the carboxyl radical. Wollenweber et al (1980) detected 3-hydroxy-15-methy1-hexadecanoic acid (3-OH-ise-Cl7 :0) in the LPS from B. fiagilis and four other Bacteroides species, a report confirmed by other investigators (Kasper et al, 1983;Nair et al, 1983;Mashimo et al, 1985;Johne & Bryn, 1986). We have found these branched 3-hydroxy fatty acids in the LPS from oral Bacteroides species such as B. oralis ATCk 33269, B. loescheii ATCC 15930, B. intermedius ATCC 2561 1 and B. corporis ATCC 33457 (unpublished data).…”

Effects of Irradiation of an Erbium: YAG Laser on Root Surfaces

“…The LPS in the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria have been acknowledged to play many biological roles, such as pyrogenicity, mitogenicity, immunogenicity, and macrophage activation of serum complement.4 8 They have also been implicated in the initiation and progression of Periodontitis. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] In vitro studies on the reduction of the biological activities of LPS with mild alkali, sodium dodecylsulphate, and EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid) had been previously carried out.…”

Extraction and Characterization of the Smooth‐Type Lipopolysaccharide from Fusobacterium nucleatum JCM 8532 and Its Biological Activities

“…there have been intensive investigations of the chemistry and endotoxic activities of the LPS of oral Gram-negative bacteria (2,6,8,12,13,18,20). Among such studies, there have been few reports on the LPS of F. nucleatum, although F. nucleatum is one of the predominant species in the gingival pocket.…”