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Using a simple and rapid microassay, we tested 100 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from 81 patients (41 men and 40 women) for their sensitivity to killing by normal human serum (NHS). The reproducibility of the test was good when the bactericidal end points were taken as the dilution of fresh NHS that killed more than 95% of the test organisms. The bactericidal end points of strains isolated either from different anatomical sites or from sexual partners correlated well with the levels of sensitivity to serum of corresponding isolates, as well as with auxotypes. When the strains were not highly resistant to killing by NHS, this marker gave a precise definition of each strain and permitted the differentiation of isolates belonging to common auxotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A total of 460 Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from patients seen at three clinics in Dakar, Sénégal, 1982-1986, have been investigated. In this period a significant change in antimicrobial susceptibility was observed: the percentage of strains susceptible to penicillin (MIC less than or equal to 0.08 micrograms/ml) fell from 61 to 18 (p less than 0.0001) and the percentage of resistant strains (MIC greater than or equal to 1.2 micrograms/ml) increased from 18 to 46. Among penicillin-resistant strains the proportion of penicillinase-producing strains (PPNG) was fairly constant (range 35-55%). The determination of susceptibility to anti-microbial agents performed locally allowed detection of approximately all PPNG strains whereas the increase in the occurrence of strains with chromosomally determined resistance was not revealed. The study comprised 70 PPNG strains of which 19% (13/70) carried the 7.4 kb Asian plasmid and 81% (57/70) the 5.3 kb African plasmid. None of these strains possessed the 38 kb conjugative plasmid, whereas it was found in 4.5% of the 376 non-PPNG strains available for plasmid analysis; 92% (410/446) of all strains had the small 4.2 kb plasmid and 5.4% (24/446) did not contain any plasmid. Overall, auxotype zero and proline-requiring strains were predominant, accounting for 53% (244/460) and 28% (131/460), respectively. In general, PPNG strains carrying the 5.3 kb plasmid were auxotype zero (49/57 = 86%) and those carrying the 7.4 kb plasmid were proline-requiring (9/13 = 69%). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The auxotypes and serogroups of 250 consecutive isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from Franceville, Gabon, including 33 penicillinase producing (PPNG) strains, were identified and the results tabulated for four periods. The PPNG and certain non-PPNG strains were isolated in clusters against a relatively stable pattern of non-PPNG biotypes. Most of the non-PPNG strains were non-requiring or proline requiring strains of serogroup WII or non-requiring strains that could not be grouped with commercially available antisera. No strain requiring arginine, hypoxanthine, and uracil was observed. The PPNG strains were all serogroup WI or ungroupable and non-requiring or proline or arginine dependent auxotypes. Only one non-PPNG strain required proline or arginine and was not serogroup WII. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]