Stimulation of bacterial adherence by neutrophil defensins varies among bacterial species but not among host cell types

Adherence of Haemophilus influenzae to bronchial epithelial cells is enhanc ed by neutrophil defensins. which are released from activated neutrophils d uring inflammation [Gorter et al. (1998) J. Infect. Dis. 178, 1067-1078]. I n this study. we showed that the adherence of H. influenzae to various epit helial, fibroblast-like and endothelial cell types was significantly enhanc ed by defensins (20 mu g ml(-1)). Defensins stimulated also the adherence o f Moraxella catarrhalis, Neisseria meningitidis and nonencapsulated Strepto coccus pneumoniae to the NCI-H292 cell line, In contrast, defensins did not affect the adherence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, encapsulated S. pneumoniae , Escherichia coil and Staphylococcus epidermidis. These results suggest th at the defensin-enhanced adherence might support the adherence and possibly persistence of the selected bacterial species using the respiratory tract as port of entry. (C) 2000 Federation of European Microbiological Societies . Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.