Gonococci in Urethral Exudates possess a Virulence Factor lost on Subculture

Morphological, Biological and Antigenic Properties of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Adapted to Growth in Guinea-Pig Subcutaneous Chambers

“…Furthermore, this resistance was lost after one subculture on agar and was not due to the small amount of chamber fluid included with BS3 in the inoculum since addition of chamber fluid to strain BS3 cultured once on agar did not confer resistance. These results parallel those of Ward et al (1970) for the resistance of gonococci from urethral pus compared with that of the same strains after subculture. The resistance of gonococci grown in vivo to human serum may play a part in the pathogenesis of gonorrhoea on mucosal surfaces if serum factors are secreted there.…”

“…Organisms from urethral pus infect humans more readily than do gonococci grown in vitro (Mahoney et al, 1946), and they are more resistant to killing by human antibody and complement (Ward, Watt & Glynn, 1970). The walls of organisms from urethral pus are smoother and have better organized layers than type I or 2 organisms (Kellogg et al, 1963(Kellogg et al, , 1968) grown in laboratory culture, and pilation is much reduced (Novotny, Short & Walker, 1975 N N , D. SEN, D. …”

Surface structures of the gonococcus.

“…Ward, Watt, and Glynn (1970) noted the loss of a virulence factor on subculture of N. gonorrhoeae. Kellogg, Cohen, Norins, Schroeter, and Reising (1968) had previously described the colonial morphology of the fresh pathogenic strains in contrast to the laboratory subcultures.…”

Survival of Gonococci in Urethral Secretions With Reference to the Nonsexual Transmission of Gonococcal Infection

“…Kellogg et al (1963) produced clinical gonorrhoea in volunteers with large doses of pure cultures of type-1 gonococci, but similar doses of type-4 strains were ineffective, and the inoculum size was unlikely in the natural transmission of the disease. Ward, Watt and Glynn (1970) found that gonococci from exudates were more resistant to the destructive action of antibody than strains from cultures and McEntegart (1975) concluded that there are other virulence and protective factors associated with the transmission of gonorrhoea that are absent from the organism in pure culture, so that infection by pure culture is never as consistently successful as infection by urethral pus from an infected patient.…”