Effect of Hypertonic Sucrose on the Growth of Salmonella typhi in Experimental Blood Cultures

ABSTRACT

Slower growth of S. typhi in hypertonic media, reported previously by the authors, was contradictory to other workers', results which showed better growth of some species of bacteria. To evaluate furthur the effect of hypertonic sucrose on the growth of S. typhi, organisms were suspended in saline or in blood with or without sodium polyanethol sulfonate (SPS) and stored up to 24 hours. And then viable counts were determined on tryptic soy agar (TSA) and experimental blood cultures were done in tryptic soy broth (TSB) and in TSB with 10% sucrose (TSB-H). S. typhi, suspended in blood and kept for 24 hours, were inoculated into TSB and TSB-H and after 4 hour incubation viable counts were made on TSA and on TSA with 10% sucrose (TSA-H). In this study it was found that, during the 24 hour storage, the viable counts of S. typhi suspended in saline with or without SPS were similar and those suspended in blood with SPS were incereasing. Comparison of the growth in TSB and in TSB-H did not show hyperonic media was better for the cultivation of S. thphi which was kept up to 24 hours before inoculation. On the contrary the growth was slower. Viable counts made on TSA and on TSA-H from the TSB and TSB-H, which were inoculated with S. typhi suspended in blood and incubated for 4 hours, showed similar results indicating TSB-H did not support faster growth. From the results of this experiment and of the previous clinical blood cultures, it is concluded that 0.1% SPS does not give adverse effect on S. typhi during the 24 hour storage and that hypertonic sucrose does not give better result in the cultivation of S. typhi.