FEMS Microbiology Letters 84 (1991) 15-22 © 1991 Federation of European Microbiological Societies 0378-1097/91/$03.50 Published by Elsevier 15 FEMSLE 04656 Growth, sporulation and enterotoxin production by Clostridium perfringens Type A in the presence of human bile salts Norma L. Heredia t,,, Ronald G. Labbe 3, Manuel A. Rodriguez and Jose S. Garcia-Alvarado 2 1 Departamento de Microbiologia, Facultad de Medicina, and 2 Departamento de Microbiologia e lnmunologia, Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico and ~ Food Science Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003, U.S.A. Received 5 August 1991 Accepted 6 August 1991 Key words: Clostridium perfringens; Bile salt; Enterotoxin; Sporulation 1. SUMMARY The effect of human bile juice and bile salts (sodium cholate, sodium taurocholate, sodium glycochenodeoxycholate and sodium chenodeoxy- cholate) on growth, sporulation and enterotoxin production by enterotoxin-positive and entero- toxin-negative strains of Clostridium perfringens was determined. Each bile salt inhibited growth to a different degree. A mixture of bile salts completely inhibited the growth of enterotoxin- positive strains of this organism. Human bile juice completely inhibited growth of all the strains at a dilution of 1 : 320. A distinct stimulatory effect of the bile salts on sporulation was observed in the Correspondence to: R.G. Labbe, Food Science Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, U.S.A. * Conacyt Fellow. Present address: Departamento de Micro- biologia e Inmunologia Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas, U.A.N.L. Apartado Postal 124-F, San Nicolas N.L. 66450, Mexico. case of C. perfringens strains NCTC 8239 and NCTC 8679. The salts also increased enterotoxin concentrations in the cell extracts of the entero- toxin-positive strains tested. No effect on entero- toxin production was detected when an entero- toxin-negative strain was examined. 2. INTRODUCTION Clostridium perfringens is one of the most im- portant agents of human food-borne illness. This illness is due to an enterotoxin produced by this organism during sporulation in the small intes- tine. Its symptoms, which include acute abdomi- nal pain, diarrhea, and in some cases nausea and vomiting, appear 6-8 h after the ingestion of food contaminated with large numbers of vegetative cells of C. perfringens. When the cells reach the small intestine they sporulate and produce an intracellular enterotoxin which is released into the intestinal lumen where the spore is liberated [1]. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/femsle/article-abstract/84/1/15/521168 by guest on 18 June 2020