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Importance of Propionibacterium acnes hemolytic activity in human intervertebral discs: A microbiological study.
- Source :
-
PLoS ONE . 11/29/2018, Vol. 13 Issue 11, p1-10. 10p. - Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Most patients with chronic lower back pain (CLBP) exhibit degenerative disc disease. Disc specimens obtained during initial therapeutic discectomies are often infected/colonized with Propionibacterium acnes, a Gram-positive commensal of the human skin. Although pain associated with infection is typically ascribed to the body’s inflammatory response, the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus was recently observed to directly activate nociceptors by secreting pore-forming α-hemolysins that disrupt neuronal cell membranes. The hemolytic activity of P. acnes in cultured disc specimens obtained during routine therapeutic discectomies was assessed through incubation on sheep-blood agar. The β-hemolysis pattern displayed by P. acnes on sheep-blood agar was variable and phylogroup-dependent. Their molecular phylogroups were correlated with their hemolytic patterns. Our findings raise the possibility that pore-forming proteins contribute to the pathogenesis and/or symptomology of chronic P. acnes disc infections and CLBP, at least in a subset of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *PROPIONIBACTERIUM
*HEMOLYTIC anemia
*INTERVERTEBRAL disk
*BACKACHE
*CELL membranes
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 133276154
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208144