RESUMO
Piliated type 1 Neisseria gonorrhoeae attached to 50% of human sperm after incubation of mixtures in vitro for 15 min at 35 C. In contrast, nonpiliated type 4 N. gonorrhoeae attached to only 23% of sperm. Similar results were obtained with three different strains of N. gonorrhoeae. Treatment with heat or formaldehyde to kill bacteria did not affect the amount of attachment by piliated or nonpiliated types. Escherichia coli and N. subflava, other species of piliated bacteria, attached to about 40% of sperm, and the nonpiliated species N. meningitidis and N. catarrhalis attached to a comparable number of sperm, as did type 4 N. gonorrhoeae. Prior incubation of type 1 N. gonorrhoeae with purified antibody prepared against gonococcal pili reduced the percentage of sperm with attached bacteria to the same level as that for nonpiliated type 4 gonococci. Similar treatment of other piliated organisms or of nonpiliated Neisseria did not affect the attachment of the bacteria to sperm.
Assuntos
Neisseria gonorrhoeae/imunologia , Espermatozoides/imunologia , Animais , Especificidade de Anticorpos , Técnicas Bacteriológicas , Adesão Celular , Parede Celular , Escherichia coli/imunologia , Formaldeído , Temperatura Alta , Humanos , Soros Imunes , Imunoglobulina G , Técnicas In Vitro , Masculino , Microscopia Eletrônica , Coelhos/imunologiaRESUMO
We cultured 55 clinical specimens of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the following atmospheric conditions: (i) 10% carbon dioxide in a CO(2) incubator; (ii) a candle extinction jar; (iii) an air convection incubator; and (iv) an anaerobic jar without added CO(2). The number and size of colonies growing on modified Thayer-Martin medium were evaluated after incubation of cultures for 24 and 48 h at 36 C. After 24 h, the specimens from the candle extinction jar had the greatest number and size of colonies, but after 48 h growth was approximately equal for specimens from the candle jar and the CO(2) incubator. Only 19 of 55 specimens grew in the air convention incubator. None of 55 clinical specimens or of 10 laboratory strains grew anaerobically. Development of colonial morphology for colony types 1, 2, 3, and 4 was studied at 24 h on a base medium that contained no hemoglobin. The relative numbers of the four colony types in specimens were comparable after 24 h of incubation in any of the three atmospheric conditions under which growth occurred, but the different types were distinguished most readily when grown in the candle extinction jar.
