title: Hyaluronatelyase production by Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from patients and carriers.
abstract: Hyaluronatelyase produced by various microorganisms are capable of degrading hyaluronic acid in connective tissues and initiating the spread of infection by opening an access for the pathogen into host tissues. The present study attempts to determine the distribution of hyaluronatelyase-producing Streptococcus pneumoniae among invasive, non invasive and carriage isolates, and correlate it with the clinical sources, year of isolation, colonial morphology and their serotypes. A total of 100 isolates from various clinical samples were selected and screened for hyaluronatelyase production and presence of the encoding SpnHyl gene. All isolates possessed SpnHyl gene. Ninety-six isolates including 34 carriage isolates were positive for production of hyaluronatelyase. Four hyaluronatelyase-negative isolates were from blood (2 isolates) and sputum (2 isolates). No significant association was detected among hyaluronatelyase production and bacterial characteristics except for colonial morphology (p = 0.040). High percentages of hyaluronatelyase production in these isolates suggest their possible role as human pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Yusof
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Desa M
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Masri
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Malina
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jamal
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D011133:Polysaccharide-Lyases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D011133:Polysaccharide-Lyases; C100002:hyaluronate lyase