Gonorrhea - capsule or no capsule?

[Phloston]

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UWorld QID# 6732 on UWSA2 says N. Gonorrhoeae has a capsule, and although it's not a virulence factor as is that of Meningococcus, it helps prevent phagocytosis.

Needless to say, p. 162 of FA2012 says Gonorrhea doesn't have a capsule.

That's let alone the fact that the capsule vs no-capsule I had thought was one of the biggest differences between Meningo- and Gonococcus.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

 

[Jonari]

That's an error then. Gono doesn't have the capsule, it's only the Meningo that has it. It's responsible for causing the inflammation in the meninges.

 

[mmmcdowe]

no capsule.

 

[withrye]

To add to that: goNOrrhea, NO capsule, NO maltose fermentation, NO vaccine. This is all in contrast to N. meningitidis of course.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

Yea, the gonococcus should not have a capsule. Even Microcards shows gonococcus as having a capsule, but pretty much every other resource I looked at says it doesn't.

Pholston, according to CMMRS, the pili of the gonnococcus "prevent phagocytosis, probably by holding the bacteria so close to host cells that macrophages or neutrophils are unable to attack." Not sure how much faith I'd put in that, but CMMRS has been pretty reliable so far.

 

[Jonari]

^^ Hmm, I remember Kaplan mentioning it can invade phagocytosis/immune system due to the pili antigenic variation.

 

[Myxedema]

Meningococci: Capsule (+), maltose fermentation (+), beta-lactamase (-); IgA protease helps attachment to mucosal surfaces
Gonococci: Capsule (-), maltose fermentation (-), beta-lactamase (+ in some); pili help attachment mucosal cell surfaces AND they're anti-phagocytic (2-in-1 package for gonococci)

Both have lipooligosaccharide (instead of LPS), both are grown in chocolate agar (modified chocolate agar with antibiotics --> Thayer-Martin medium), both are oxidase (+)

 

[Myxedema]

^^ Hmm, I remember Kaplan mentioning it can invade phagocytosis/immune system due to the pili antigenic variation.

Antigenic variation by DNA re-arrangement is seen in:

Bacteria
(1) Gonococci: Pilus protein
(2) Borrelia recurrentis: Outer membrane protein
(3) Salmonella spp.: Flagellar protein (H antigen)
----
(4) Trypanosoma brucei gambiense & rhodiense: Surface glycoprotein
(5) Pneumocystis jiroveci: Surface glycoprotein

 

[Phloston]

Antigenic variation by DNA re-arrangement is seen in:

Bacteria
(1) Gonococci: Pilus protein
(2) Borrelia recurrentis: Outer membrane protein
(3) Salmonella spp.: Flagellar protein (H antigen)
----
(4) Trypanosoma brucei gambiense & rhodiense: Surface glycoprotein
(5) Pneumocystis jiroveci: Surface glycoprotein

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