IngentaConnect Adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ocular isolates to mucin

Authors: Aristoteli, Lina Panayiota; Willcox, Mark DP

Source: Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology, Volume 29, Number 3, June 2001 , pp. 143-146(4)

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to compare the adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ocular isolates to mucin. An adhesion assay was developed using biotin-labelled P. aeruginosa strains (two corneal ulcer, two acute red eye, one asymptomatic and one standard strains) incubated with porcine gastric mucin immobilized on a nitrocellulose membrane. The adhesion was semiquantified using densitometry. The results showed that all P. aeruginosa strains tested were able to adhere to mucin to various extents with three strains (one corneal ulcer, one acute red eye, one asymptomatic) binding significantly greater than the negative control (P < 0.1). Results suggest that ocular strains of P. aeruginosa strains differ in their adhesion to mucin but this did not correlate with the pathogenic origin of the strain. It is concluded that the adhesion of P. aeruginosa strains to mucin alone may not be a principal determinant of pathogenesis but may be a contributing factor along with other bacterial virulence traits.

Keywords: bacteria; mucin; ocular infection; Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1046/j.1442-9071.2001.00395.x

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