Role of adenine in pathogenesis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections of tracheal epithelium.

Adenine sulfate and several related compounds were evaluated for their ability to retard the cytotoxic effect which normally accompanies M. pneumoniae infections of hamster tracheal explants. Adenine sulfate, at the 0.01 mM level, was found to exert a significant protective effect. Little or no ciliostasis or loss of cell viability was detectable when organ cultures were infected with 10(7) CFU of virulent M. pneumoniae in the presence of the adenine supplement. Mycoplasmas grew in broth and on plastic surfaces in the presence of adenine, and no significant diminution of growth rate or cell yield was detectable. Organisms adhered to the tracheal epithelial surface regardless of the presence or absence of adenine. When explants were incubated in the presence of 14C-(8)-adenine, rinsed, and then infected with M. pneumoniae, the adenine label could be recovered from the mycoplasmas 20 h after the infection. These data are compatible with the known nucleic acid requirement of mycoplasmas and with a model which ascribes a role for purine/pyrimidine competition and/or depletion in the infective process.