[Production of glycocalyx by coagulase negative staphylococci isolated from the oral cavity].

The study was aimed at determination whether and how frequently coagulase-negative staphylococci persisting in human oral cavity possess the same feature. The material consisted of 255 strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from oral cavity of persons of both sexes and in differing age. Glycocalyx production by these strains was tested quantitatively by a colorimetric method. Glycocalyx was produced by 222 out of 225 tested strains (87.1%). For individual genera this frequency was following: epidermidis 164/186, hominis 14/14, warneri 12/13, saprophyticus 7/8, auricularis 4/5, haemolyticus 1/4, simulans 4/4, caseolyticus 2/2, xylosus 0/1 and for unidentified 14/18. Majority of tested strains produced only slight amounts of the glycocalyx. Only 46 out of the -20.7% of active strains (18.0% of all tested strains) produced large amount of glycocalyx. Among these strains, 37 belonged to the genus epidermidis, 6 to hominis and one each to warneri, simulans and auricularis. There was no correlation between amount of glycocalyx produced by individual strains and their number in the oral cavity. These results indicate that production of glycocalyx is a common feature of coagulase-negative staphylococci belonging to different genera and may appear with different intensity. Oral cavity may be a source of strains producing large amounts of glycocalyx and thus potentially pathogenic.