Peptostreptococcus

Peptostreptococcus is a genus of anaerobic, Gram-positive, non-spore forming bacteria. The cells are small, spherical, and can occur in short chains, in pairs or individually. They typically move using cilia. Peptostreptococcus are slow-growing bacteria with increasing resistance to antimicrobial drugs. Peptostreptococcus is a normal inhabitant of the healthy lower reproductive tract of women. Peptostreptococcus species are commensal organisms in humans, living predominantly in the mouth, skin, gastrointestinal, vagina and urinary tracts, and are members of the gut microbiota. Under immunosuppressed or traumatic conditions these organisms can become pathogenic, as well as septicemic, harming their host. Peptostreptococcus can cause brain, liver, breast, and lung abscesses, as well as generalized necrotizing soft tissue infections. They participate in mixed anaerobic infections, a term which is used to describe infections that are caused by multiple bacteria that do not require or may even be harmed by oxygen. Peptostreptococcus species are susceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics. They are isolated with high frequency from all specimen sources. Anaerobic gram-positive cocci such as Peptostreptococcus are the second most frequently recovered anaerobes and account for approximately one quarter of anaerobic isolates found. Most often Anaerobic gram-positive cocci are usually recovered mixed in with other anaerobic or aerobic bacteria from various infections at different sites of the human body. This contributes to the difficulty of isolating Peptostreptococcus organisms. Peptostreptococcus species that are found in clinical infections were once part of the genus formerly known as Peptococcus. Peptostreptococcus is the only genus among anaerobic gram-positive cocci that is encountered in clinical infections. As such, Peptostreptococcus species are viewed as being clinically significant anaerobic cocci. Other similar clinically significant anaerobic cocci include Veillonella species (gram-negative cocci), and microaerophilic streptococci (aerotolerant).