CHARACTERIZATION OF SACCHAROLYTIC BACTEROIDES AND PREVOTELLA ISOLATESFROM INFECTED-DOG AND CAT BITE WOUNDS IN HUMANS

Saccharolytic, nonpigmented, anaerobic gram-negative rods isolated fro m infected dog and cat bite wounds in humans have been poorly characte rized, and most are not included in the databases of kits used for ana erobic identification; thus, they are problematic for clinical laborat ories to identify, Fifty strains isolated from such sounds were charac terized with commercial kits for preformed-enzyme detection, carbohydr ate fermentation, and other biochemical tests, PCR fingerprinting was performed on these strains to further characterize subgroups within th ese species, Bacteroides tectum is a frequent isolate in bite wounds a nd resembles Prevotella bivia in colony morphology and saccharolytic a ctivity, except that it grows in 20% bile and hydrolyzes esculin, Prof ile numbers generated by various kits associate B. tectum with P. bivi a, Prevotella oralis group, or Prevotella melaninogenica. PCR fingerpr inting identified at least four subgroups and confirmed the heterogene ous nature of this species, Prevotella heparinolytica was also frequen tly isolated from these bite wounds, It produces indole and generates a profile number in preformed-enzyme kits that is usually associated w ith Bacteroides uniformis. However, it is bile sensitive and quite dis tinct from the Bacteroides fragilis group of anaerobes, The PCR finger print profiles generated by strains of P. heparinolytica were very sim ilar to that of the type strain and to each other, Prevotella zoogleof ormans, occasionally isolated from dog and cat bite wounds in humans, resembles P. heparinolytica except for a negative indole test, Clinica l laboratories should be aware of the characteristics of these animal species when identifying isolates from animal bite wounds in humans.