The role of pneumolysin in ocular infections with Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Pneumolysin, a cytolytic protein produced by Streptococcus pneumoniae, has many properties which suggest it may be an important virulence factor in pneumococcal ocular infections. To directly test this possibility, we have constructed pneumolysin-negative strains of S. pneumoniae and compared their virulence with that of the wild type in a rabbit model of intracorneal infection. A pneumolysin-negative strain produced by chemical mutagenesis (probably a point mutant) was found to be no less virulent than the parent strain. However, a strain bearing a deletion in the pneumolysin gene showed greatly reduced virulence. This strain produced less pathology while showing significantly higher bacterial counts. These results suggest that a property of the pneumolysin molecule other than its cytolytic (hemolytic) activity may be involved in its pathogenic mechanism of action. This property may be the ability to activate complement, known to be a function of pneumolysin, which results in influx of PMNs, reducing the bacterial counts but also producing tissue damage.