sodium-dodecyl-sulfate and Stevens-Johnson-Syndrome

The histological changes induced by topical application of selected irritants are reported. The possible application of this methodology to the evaluation of the protective value of a silicone-containing barrier cream is discussed. Although this crude method only allows objectivity of the later stages of a toxic reaction, it gives useful information about the potential protective effect of a silicone-containing barrier cream.

Topics: Animals; Drug Evaluation; Emulsions; Female; Guinea Pigs; Irritants; Mineral Oil; Ointments; Silicones; Siloxanes; Skin; Skin Diseases; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Sodium Hydroxide; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; Toluene

Staphylococcal phage group 2 strain UT0007 was previously shown to contain a high-molecular-weight plasmid containing genes for exfoliative toxin (ET) and bacteriocin production. Phage group 2 strains UT0002 and UT0003 (Tox+Bac-) underwent a twofold and ninefold loss of ET activity, respectively, after growth at 44 C for 18 h. Strain UT0002 also lost total bacteriocin activity. Both strains contained (i) a 56S plasmid that was lost from those substrains showing reduced ET activity and (ii) a 21S plasmid with a gene for cadmium resistance that could be transduced into two recipient strains. Since the ET plasmid-negative substrains still made ET, it was postulated that this residual toxin was made from chromosomal genes. In characterizing the plasmid species from strains UT0002 and UT0003, the 21S but little or no 56S plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid could be isolated after centrifugation of cleared lysates from these strains on dye-buoyant density gradients. Treatment of cleared lysates from strain UT0002 with ethidium bromide, Pronase, or sodium dodecyl sulfate, but not heat at 60 C, induced conversion of the 56S closed circular ET plasmid to a 38S open circular form as determined after centrifugation on 5 to 20% neutral sucrose gradients.

Topics: Cadmium; Centrifugation, Density Gradient; Chromosomes; DNA, Viral; Extrachromosomal Inheritance; Genetic Code; Plasmids; Pronase; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Staphylococcus Phages; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; Toxins, Biological; Transduction, Genetic

Phage group II Staphylococcus aureus has been identified as the etiological agent of the staphylococcal scaleded skin syndrome. The development of an animal model system permitted fulfillment of Koch's postulates and recognition of exfoliative toxin (ET) as being responsible for some of the clinical manifestations of this syndrome. Initial studies directed toward associating a lysogenic phage with the genetic control of ET synthesis failed to support this hypothesis. Growth of two Tox(+) strains at 44 C was more effective than growth in ethidium bromide or sodium dodecyl sulfate in eliminating the ability to produce ET. The early and rapid accumulation of ET-negative (Tox(-)) variants during growth of strain UT 0007 at 44 C, the lack of any selective advantage of the Tox(-) variants over Tox(+) cells during growth at 44 C, and an enhanced elimination frequency at 44 C of 97.9% over the spontaneous frequency of loss strongly suggest that the gene for ET synthesis is extrachromosomal. Additional evidence suggests that this gene is located on a plasmid which is not associated with genes for penicillinase synthesis and cadmium resistance. Two Tox(+) strains harbored lysogenic phage capable of transducing cadmium resistance, but not penicillin resistance, to specific Tox(-) recipients.

Topics: Animals; Bacteriophage Typing; Biological Assay; Cadmium; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Ethidium; Extrachromosomal Inheritance; Genes; Genetic Variation; Lysogeny; Mice; Penicillin Resistance; Penicillinase; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate; Staphylococcus; Staphylococcus Phages; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome; Temperature; Toxins, Biological; Transduction, Genetic