Bacterial adherence to nasal mucosal cells.

The ability of several bacterial species to adhere to human nasal mucosal cells and their distribution on nasal mucosal surfaces was studied. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa adhered to scraped nasal mucosal cells. In contrast, viridans streptococci and Klebsiella pneumoniae exhibited feeble or no adherence to nasal mucosal cells. S. aureus affinity for the nasal mucosal cells of carriers of S. aureus was greater than for those of the noncarriers (P less than 0.005). Heat treatment of S. aureus did not block, but slightly reduced, its binding to mucosal cells. The data suggest a high degree of specificity involved in the adherence of bacteria to nasal mucosal cells. The greater affinity of S. aureus for the nasal mucosal cells of carriers (than noncarriers) seems to be a property of mucosal cells rather than bacteria.