title: Comparison of in vivo degradation of 125I-labeled peptidoglycan-polysaccharide fragments from group A and group D streptococci.
abstract: The in vivo degradation and persistence of 125I-labeled peptidoglycan-polysaccharide (PG-PS) fragments from the cell walls of group A and D streptococci were compared by group after intraperitoneal injection into rats. The quantity of PG-PS in the livers and spleens of group D PG-PS-injected rats was less than the quantity in rats injected with group A PG-PS throughout the course of the experiment. Gel filtration analyses of liver and spleen homogenates indicated that group A PG-PS was relatively resistant to degradation, whereas group D PG-PS was extensively degraded to yield a heterogeneous mixture of fragments of lower molecular weight. There was no significant difference in the content of group A PG-PS versus that of group D in joints or blood samples. Analysis of fragment sizes in these tissues also indicated more extensive degradation of group D PG-PS. However, the majority of group A PG-PS in blood samples and joints was a lower molecular weight than that found in the livers or spleens. We conclude that group A PG-PS undergoes a significant but low level of degradation and that group D PG-PS is much less persistent and more extensively degraded than group A PG-PS is in vivo. These differences in PG-PS catabolism may account, in part, for the capacity of group A PG-PS to induce chronic, recurrent arthritis of longer duration than that induced by group D PG-PS.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007596:Joints / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000378:metabolism*; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000378:metabolism*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D010457:Peptidoglycan; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial