Peptostreptococcus

Peptostreptococcus is a genus of anaerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore forming bacteria. The cells are small, spherical, and can occur in short chains, in pairs or individually. Peptostreptococcus are slow-growing bacteria with increasing resistance to antimicrobial drugs.

The most frequently identified species of Peptostreptococcus is P. magnus.

Pathogenesis

Peptostreptococcus species are commensal organisms in humans, living predominantly in the mouth, skin, gastrointestinal, vagina and urinary tracts, and compose a portion of the bacterial gut flora. Under immunosuppressed or traumatic conditions these organisms can become pathogenic, as well as septicemic, harming their host. Peptostreptococcus can cause brain, liver, breast, and lung abscesses, as well as generalized necrotizing soft tissue infections. They participate in mixed anaerobic infections, a term which is used to describe infections that are caused by multiple bacteria that do not require or may even be harmed by oxygen.

Peptostreptococcus species are susceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics.

They are isolated with high frequency from all specimen sources. Anaerobic gram-positive cocci such as Peptostreptococcus are the second most frequently recovered anaerobes and...
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