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Does aggregation substance ofEnterococcus faecalis contribute to development of endocarditis?

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Summary

Aggregation substance (AS) ofEnterococcus faecalis which is encoded by socalled sex pheromone plasmids enables the bacteria to bind toin vitro-cultured pig kidney tubular cells. It is reported that the presence of AS is not of pivotal importance for the ability ofE. faecalis to cause infective endocarditis (EN). The lines of evidence for this are two-fold: 1) sex pheromone plasmids and, therefore, the gene for AS were not present more often in epidemiologically unrelated strains ofE. faecalis isolated from human cases of EN than in isolates from well-water (26 vs. 18%); 2) the presence of the adhesin did not correlate with the establishment of EN in an animal (rat) model. The data are discussed with respect to the specificity of interaction of AS with eukaryotic cells and the results of other studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lepetit Research Center, Medical Microbiology Dept., Via R. Lepetit 34, 1-21040, Gerenzano, Italy

    M. Berti & G. Candiani

  2. SmithKline Beecham Biologicals, Rue de l'Institut 89, B-1330, Rixensart, Belgium

    A. Kaufhold

  3. LS Mikrobiologie-NWF III, Universität Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, D-93053, Regensburg, Germany

    A. Muscholl & R. Wirth

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  1. M. Berti
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  4. A. Muscholl
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  5. R. Wirth
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Berti, M., Candiani, G., Kaufhold, A. et al. Does aggregation substance ofEnterococcus faecalis contribute to development of endocarditis?. Infection 26, 48–53 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02768756

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