Premium
Clostridium ramosum , an IgA Protease‐Producing Species and Its Ecology in the Human Intestinal Tract
Author(s) -
Senda Shigeru,
Fujiyama Yoshihide,
Ushijima Tsutomu,
Hodohara Keiko,
Bamba Tadao,
Hosoda Shiro,
Kobayashi Kunihiko
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1985.tb00892.x
Subject(s) - biology , microbiology and biotechnology , ulcerative colitis , population , feces , allotype , clostridium , protease , immunoglobulin a , intestinal mucosa , probiotic , antibody , immunology , immunoglobulin g , bacteria , medicine , disease , enzyme , genetics , environmental health , biochemistry
A bacterial strain isolated from feces of a patient with ulcerative colitis, which had been shown to produce a novel immunoglobulin A (IgA) protease (cleaving both the human IgA1 subclass and IgA2 subclass of A2m(1) allotype) extracellularly, was identified as Clostridium ramosum . By using a selective medium (proprion‐ate‐rifampicin‐gentamicin‐colimycin‐polymyxin medium) devised for C. ramosum , analysis of the population level of this organism was performed to determine its ecology in the human intestinal tract. C. ramosum was isolated in 20 of 25 fecal samples (80%) from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (I.B.D.) and in 112 of 135 samples (83%) from patients without I.B.D. (control group). C. ramosum was also isolated from 6 of 11 biopsy samples (55%) of the inflamed rectal mucosa from patients with ulcerative colitis and from five of 15 samples (33%) from the intact mucosa of the control group. The population levels of C. ramosum in most of the biopsy samples ranged from 2.3 to 5.0 log 10 per gram. The IgA protease‐positive C. ramosum was found in only four of 135 fecal samples (3%) and one of 15 biopsy samples (6.7%) from the control group. These results indicate that IgA protease‐positive C. ramosum is not likely to play a role in the induction of I.B.D., unless the organism is first isolated from the patient with I.B.D.