Importance of Propionibacterium acnes hemolytic activity in human intervertebral discs: A microbiological study.
Title | Importance of Propionibacterium acnes hemolytic activity in human intervertebral discs: A microbiological study. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2018 |
Authors | Capoor, MN, Ruzicka, F, Sandhu, G, Rollason, J, Mavrommatis, K, Ahmed, FS, Schmitz, JE, Raz, A, Brüggemann, H, Lambert, PA, Fischetti, VA, Slaby, O |
Journal | PLoS One |
Volume | 13 |
Issue | 11 |
Pagination | e0208144 |
Date Published | 2018 |
ISSN | 1932-6203 |
Keywords | Animals, Chronic Disease, Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections, Hemolysis, Humans, Intervertebral Disc, Low Back Pain, Propionibacterium acnes, Sheep |
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. |
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0208144 |
Alternate Journal | PLoS One |
PubMed ID | 30496247 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC6264842 |