Production and some properties of cytotoxins produced by Campylobacter species isolated from proliferative enteropathy in swine.

Cytotoxin production by Campylobacter species isolated from proliferative enteropathy in swine was examined. Twenty-one of 29 strains of C. hyointestinalis, 10 of 27 strains of C. mucosalis and 10 of 10 strains of C. coli were cytotoxin positive. By the gel filtration chromatography of C. hyointestinalis culture filtrate, cytotoxin activities were observed in two peaks (fraction I and fraction II). Most of the cytotoxic activities lay in fraction I, which is heat-labile, trypsin-sensitive and the molecular weight was estimated at 40,000. On the other hand, fraction II cytotoxin was heat-stable, trypsin-insusceptible and molecular weight was approximately 1,000.