Dynamics of Slime-producing Activity and Inflame Activity of Slime-producing Strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis Isolated from Ocular Tissue

摘要

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a bacterial flora in human conjunctiva. Certain strains can produce slime. We studied how the productivity of slime-producing strains would be affected with the change of growth environment. The infectivity of slime-producing strains were analysed in rabbit eyes. Eleven strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis were isolated from the human conjunctiva and were stained by safranine using microplate method and then checked slime-productivity. Two slime producing strains were observed. These 2 strains were subcultured for 5 generations in sheep blood agar and common agar to study the slime-producing activity. On the other hand, we inoculated the rabbit cornea by 100 μl of 107 cfu/ml solutions from slime-producing strains culture and observed the inflammation 24 hours after inoculation. These results of experiment suggest that slime-producing strain can be isolated in about 15～20% from Staphylococcus epidermidis of human conjunctiva. The slime producing activity dropped in the subculture in common agar but not so much in well-fed sheep blood agar. These results do indicate that the slime-producing strains possess infectivity to the rabbit cornea.