Comparison of some adhesive properties of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from respiratory and urinary tract infections.

The aim of the paper was the comparison of adhesive properties concerning pathogenic potential of P. aeruginosa strains isolated from the patients with respiratory tract infections and from the patients with urinary tract infections. It was stated that P. aeruginosa strains had no haemagglutinating properties when cultured on a solid medium. Bacteria cultured in a liquid medium showed an increase of these properties in 48 h cultures as compared with 24 h cultures. They were not sensitive to heating. The haemagglutinating properties of the most strains were inhibited by D-mannose. These results seem to suggest that in P. aeruginosa strains fimbriae play an important role in adhesion. On the other hand, the mechanism of adhesion is not uniform as shows mannose-sensitivity of some strains and its lack in the other haemagglutinating strains. The most effective agglutination of human erythrocytes seems to be caused by the species specificity of the individual strains isolated from humans. The higher attachment of P. aeruginosa strains isolated from the urinary tract infections than those from respiratory tract infections to "Vero" cells suggests that these two strains populations may differ in their pathogenic potential to various tissues.