A liquid medium permitting anaerobic growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Stemming the tide of drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae: the need for an individualized approach to treatment

Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae poses a significant public health challenge. In recent years, gonococci resistant to first- and second-line antibiotics have spread worldwide and new strains have developed that are increasingly resistant to third-generation cephalosporins, which are currently our last line of available treatments. Given the timeline required to develop new drugs or an effective vaccine for N. gonorrhoeae, a top priority is to use the drugs that are available as effectively as possible. Currently, clinical management of gonorrhoea is based upon treatment guidelines informed by international gonococcal antimicrobial susceptibility surveillance programmes. This approach, although currently the most practical, is subject to a number of limitations since surveillance data inherently provide population-level information. As a result, basing treatment guidelines on these data can result in the prescription of more aggressive or broader treatment than is needed by individual patients and hence inadvertently contribute to the development and spread of resistance to important drugs. Clearly, methods are needed that provide patient-specific drug susceptibility information in a time frame that would allow clinicians to prescribe individualized treatment regimens for gonorrhoea. Fortunately, in recent years, there have been a number of advances in the development of rapid methods for characterizing both the genotype and the drug resistance phenotype of N. gonorrhoeae strains. Here, we review these advances and propose additional studies that would help facilitate a transition towards an individualized treatment approach for gonorrhoea.

The role of acidification in the inhibition of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by vaginal lactobacilli during anaerobic growth

BACKGROUND

Vaginal lactobacilli protect the female genital tract by producing lactic acid, bacteriocins, hydrogen peroxide or a local immune response. In bacterial vaginosis, normal lactobacilli are replaced by an anaerobic flora and this may increase susceptibility to Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a facultative anaerobe. Bacterial interference between vaginal lactobacilli and N. gonorrhoeae has not been studied in liquid medium under anaerobic conditions. By co-cultivating N. gonorrhoeae in the presence of lactobacilli we sought to identify the relative contributions of acidification and hydrogen peroxide production to any growth inhibition of N. gonorrhoeae.

METHODS

Three strains of N. gonorrhoeae distinguishable by auxotyping were grown in the presence of high concentrations (107-108 cfu/mL) of three vaginal lactobacilli (L. crispatus, L. gasseri and L. jensenii) in an anerobic liquid medium with and without 2-(N-morpholino)-ethanesulfonic (MES) buffer. Fusobacterium nucleatum was used as an indicator of anaerobiosis. Bacterial counts were performed at 15, 20 and 25 h; at 25 h pH and hydrogen peroxide concentrations were measured.

RESULTS

Growth of F. nucleatum to >108 cfu/mL at 25 h confirmed anaerobiosis. All bacteria grew in the anaerobic liquid medium and the addition of MES buffer had negligible effect on growth. L. crispatus and L. gasseri produced significant acidification and a corresponding reduction in growth of N. gonorrhoeae. This inhibition was abrogated by the addition of MES. L. jensenii produced less acidification and did not inhibit N. gonorrhoeae. Hydrogen peroxide was not detected in any experiment.

CONCLUSIONS

During anaerobic growth, inhibition of N. gonorrhoeae by the vaginal lactobacilli tested was primarily due to acidification and abrogated by the presence of a buffer. There was no evidence of a specific mechanism of inhibition other than acid production under these conditions and, in particular, hydrogen peroxide was not produced. The acidification potential of vaginal lactobacilli under anaerobic conditions may be their most important characteristic conferring protection against N. gonorrhoeae infection.