Assessment of in vivo revival, growth, and pathogenicity of Escherichia coli strains after copper- and chlorine-induced injury.
Cells of one enteroinvasive and three enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli were exposed to sublethal concentrations of copper and chlorine to produce 85 to 94% injury. Injured cells were intraluminally inoculated into ligated ileal loops of anesthetized mice, and injury was assessed at timed intervals. Substantial recovery (72-84%) of copper- and chlorine-injured cells was observed in the inoculated loops at 4 and 3 h, respectively. No appreciable increase in total numbers was observed during these time intervals. In vitro revival of copper-injured cells in phosphate-buffered saline alone after incubation at 35 degrees C for 4 h was not observed. However, a 60 to 70% revival occurred when 200 micrograms of protein per ml of mouse intestinal mucosal homogenate was incorporated into saline cell suspensions. The enterotoxigenic activity of copper-injured cells in rabbit ileal loops was somewhat reduced compared with that of chlorine-injured or uninjured cells. These results show that injured pathogenic E. coli cells can revive in the small intestine and appear to retain their enterotoxigenic activity.
D000818:Animals; D002713:Chlorine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003300:Copper / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D011817:Rabbits
D002713:Chlorine; D003300:Copper