Involvement of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin—Producing Staphylococcus aureus in Primary Skin Infections and Pneumonia

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a cytotoxin that causes leukocyte destruction and tissue necrosis. It is produced by fewer than 5% of Staphylococcus aureus strains. A collection of 172 S. aureus strains were screened for PVL genes by polymerase chain reaction amplification. PVL genes were detec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical infectious diseases 1999-11, Vol.29 (5), p.1128-1132
Main Authors: Lina, Gerard, Piémont, Yves, Godail-Gamot, Florence, Bes, Michèle, Peter, Marie-Odile, Gauduchon, Valérie, Vandenesch, François, Etienne, Jerome
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacterial diseases
Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system
Bacterial Toxins
Biological and medical sciences
Cellulitis
Clinical Articles
Endocarditis
Exotoxins - toxicity
Human bacterial diseases
Humans
Infections
Infectious diseases
Leukocidins
Leukocidins - genetics
Leukocidins - toxicity
Medical sciences
Pneumonia, Bacterial - etiology
Polymerase chain reaction
Skin
Skin Diseases, Bacterial - etiology
Sprains and strains
Staphylococcal Infections - etiology
Staphylococcal pneumonia
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity
Toxins
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Summary:Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is a cytotoxin that causes leukocyte destruction and tissue necrosis. It is produced by fewer than 5% of Staphylococcus aureus strains. A collection of 172 S. aureus strains were screened for PVL genes by polymerase chain reaction amplification. PVL genes were detected in 93% of strains associated with furunculosis and in 85% of those associated with severe necrotic hemorrhagic pneumonia (all community-acquired). They were detected in 55% of cellulitis strains, 50% of cutaneous abscess strains, 23% of osteomyelitis strains, and 13% of finger-pulp-infection strains. PVL genes were not detected in strains responsible for other infections, such as infective endocarditis, mediastinitis, hospital-acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and enterocolitis, or in those associated with toxic-shock syndrome. It thus appears that PVL is mainly associated with necrotic lesions involving the skin or mucosa.
ISSN:1058-4838
1537-6591
DOI:10.1086/313461