ADHERENCE OF HEMAGGLUTINATING AND NON-HEMAGGLUTINATING CLINICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISOLATES OF AEROMONAS

Twelve haemagglutinating and non-haemagglutinating isolates of Aeromon as spp., comprising 6 each of clinical and environmental origin, were examined for their ability to adhere to rabbit intestinal epithelium, for inhibition of adhesion with sugars, and for delineation of the por tion of intestine, jejunum, or ileum that is most susceptible to adhes ion. Although the environmental isolates of Aeromonas haemagglutinated human erythrocytes that were inhibited by D-mannose and/or L-fucose, the majority of the clinical isolates of Aeromonas adhered to rabbit i ntestinal epithelium in almost equal proportions regardless of their h aemagglutination (HA) properties, species designation, and source of i solation. Adhesion of both haemagglutinating and non-haemagglutinating isolates of Aeromonas was inhibited by sugars; however, the ability o f sugar inhibition to adhere was similar to that observed with HA. Thi s study suggests that adhesion is probably mediated by a variety of pi lus or non-pilus colonisation factors which may or may not be a haemag glutinin. The jejunum was found to be more susceptible to adhesion tha n the ileum. However, no appreciable difference was observed in the nu mber of adhered bacteria to adjacent loops.