title: Potential pathogenic role of aggregative-adhering Corynebacterium diphtheriae of different clonal groups in endocarditis.
abstract: Invasive diseases caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae have been described increasingly. Several reports indicate the destructive feature of endocarditis attributable to nontoxigenic strains. However, few reports have dealt with the pathogenicity of invasive strains. The present investigation demonstrates a phenotypic trait that may be used to identify potentially invasive strains. The study also draws attention to clinical and microbiological aspects observed in 5 cases of endocarditis due to C. diphtheriae that occurred outside Europe. Four cases occurred in female school-age children (7-14 years) treated at different hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All patients developed other complications including septicemia, renal failure and/or arthritis. Surgical treatment was performed on 2 patients for valve replacement. Lethality was observed in 40% of the cases. Microorganisms isolated from 5 blood samples and identified as C. diphtheriae subsp mitis (N = 4) and C. diphtheriae subsp gravis (N = 1) displayed an aggregative adherence pattern to HEp-2 cells and identical one-dimensional SDS-PAGE protein profiles. Aggregative-adhering invasive strains of C. diphtheriae showed 5 distinct RAPD profiles. Despite the clonal diversity, all 5 C. diphtheriae invasive isolates seemed to display special bacterial adhesive properties that may favor blood-barrier disruption and systemic dissemination of bacteria. In conclusion, blood isolates from patients with endocarditis exhibited a unique adhering pattern, suggesting a pathogenic role of aggregative-adhering C. diphtheriae of different clones in endocarditis. Accordingly, the aggregative-adherence pattern may be used as an indication of some invasive potential of C. diphtheriae strains.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Filardy
authors.forename: D L R
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Damasco
authors.forename: A C P
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Nagao
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Pimenta
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Mattos-Guaraldi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002648:Child; D003353:Corynebacterium diphtheriae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D013045:Species Specificity