Bacteroides Fragilis - Clinical Significance

Clinical Significance

B. fragilis is involved in 90% of anaerobic peritoneal infections.

It acts primarily at the surface of the mucosa. It predominates in bacteremia associated with intraabdominal infections, peritonitis and abscesses following rupture of viscus, and subcutaneous abscesses or burns near the anus.

Working with lab cultures and mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have found a strain of the common gut pathogen Bacteroides fragilis causes colon inflammation and increases activity of a gene for the enzyme superoxide dismutase in the intestine. The effect is to expose the gut to hydrogen peroxide – the caustic, germ-fighting substance found in many medicine cabinets—and cause DNA damage, contributing to the formation of colon tumors, say the scientists.