Staphylococcus hyicus - skin reactions in piglets caused by extracellular products and by partially purified exfoliative toxin

Lars Ole Andresen, Henrik Caspar Wegener, Vivi Bille-Hansen

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Staphylococcus hyicus may cause a spontaneous generalized exudative epidermitis in piglets. The progression and regression of macroscopical and histopathological lesions in piglet skin after subcutaneous injection of sterile concentrated culture supernatant (CCS) from one virulent and one avirulent strain of S. hyicus was studied every 24 h until 144 h post-injection. CCS from the virulent strain caused local alterations of the epidermis comparable to those of spontaneous exudative epidermitis: exfoliation, crust formation, exocytosis, formation of vesicles, and pustules and acanthosis. CCS from the avirulent strain only caused a transient erythema of the skin and no histopathological alterations of the epidermis. Additionally, proteins in CCS from the virulent strain were fractionated by column chromatography. Skin reactions similar to those caused by CCS from the virulent strain were induced by one fraction of proteins that contained eight protein bands in SDS-PAGE analysis. Two of these protein bands, with molecular weights of approximately 27 kDa and 30 kDa, were unique to the virulent strain compared to the avirulent strain. The results of this study indicate that one of these two proteins or both is a heat-labile exfoliative toxin, and that the toxin is a significant factor in the pathogenesis of exudative epidermitis in piglets.
Original languageEnglish
JournalMicrobial Pathogenesis
Volume15
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)217-225
ISSN0882-4010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1993

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