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Infect Immun, June 1998, p. 2570-2575, Vol. 66, No. 6
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Disparate Findings on the Role of Virulence Factors of Enterococcus faecalis in Mouse and Rat Models of Peritonitis

Herve Dupont, Philippe Montravers,* Jacqueline Mohler, and Claude Carbon

INSERM U.13, Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France

Received 3 December 1997/Returned for modification 5 January 1998/Accepted 27 March 1998

The role of Enterococcus faecalis in polymicrobial peritonitis is still debated. Virulence factors expressed in some enterococcal strains might be involved in the pathogenicity of these organisms. To clarify their role, three of these virulence factors (cytolysin, gelatinase, and aggregation substance) were studied in six isogenic strains of E. faecalis expressing various combinations of these factors. Since the pathogenic effects of enterococci are only moderate, the expression of their virulence might vary from one animal species to another and from one type of infection to another. Therefore, we evaluated these effects in two animal models, i.e., a systemic infection in mice in which we assessed the virulence of the strains in 50% lethal dose studies and a model of compartmentalized infection in rats in which the microbiologic and inflammatory effects of the strains were evaluated in monomicrobial or polymicrobial infection. In mice, significant differences were observed in the cumulative survival curves depending on the virulence factors (P < 0.0001 [log rank test]). In rats, monomicrobial infection induced only mild changes. In polymicrobial peritonitis, the virulence factors mainly increased the inflammatory response while the changes observed in the microbiologic response were minimal. The combination of two virulence factors did not significantly increase the severity of infection either in the mice model or the polymicrobial rat model. These data argue for species and model dependence of the role of the virulence factors studied here and suggest that other important factors may be involved in the pathogenicity of enterococci.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Service d'Anesthésie C, Groupe Hospitalier Sud, Ave. René Laënnec, Salouel, 80054 Amiens Cedex 1, France. Phone: (33) 3-22-45-59-55. Fax: (33) 3-22-45-53-40. E-mail: pmontrav{at}planete.net.

Infect Immun, June 1998, p. 2570-2575, Vol. 66, No. 6
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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