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Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie — 100 years ago The isolation of Shigella flexneri
IJ M
Int. J. Med. Microbial. 290, 5-6 (2000) © Urban & Fischer Verlag http://www.urbanfischer.de/jaurnals/ijmm
Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie - 100 years ago The isolation of Shigella flexneri Werner Kohler (Formely Friedrich Schiller-Universitat jena, Institut fur Experimentelle Mikrobiologie)
History should not be restricted to learned historians, history of sciences and medicine should also be of interest to all researchers working in these fields. Isaac Newton's sentence that we are standing on the shoulders of giants should be kept in mind by every scientist. Therefore, we will recall in the forthcoming issues of the relaunched "International Journal of Medical Microbiology" what happened 100 years ago in the old, trilingual "Centralblatt fur Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten", edited by F. Loeffler, R. Pfeiffer and M. Braun. The most important paper in the two volumes published in 1900 is possibly the publication of Simon Flexner "The Etiology of Tropical Dysentery" (Flexner, 1900a) (Fig. 1). At the same time he published his results also in two American journals (Flexner, 1900b, c; Mochmann and Kohler, 1997). " Chantemesse and Widal (1888) seem to be the first, who isolated shigellae, but their description was too insufficient as to consider them to be the discoverers of the agent of bacterial dysentery. It was Kiyoshi Shiga (1870 - 1957) from Tokyo who isolated in 1897 the microorganism, which is now known as Shigella dysenteriae, during a severe epidemic (lethality 25%) in Japan. Shiga proposed - in this journal - the name Bacillus dysenteriae (Shiga, 1898). Shortly afterwards (in 1900), Walther Kruse (1864 - 1943), at that time in Bonn, isolated the same organisms during a dysentery outbreak in Laar (Westphalia) (Kruse, 1900). In the same year, Simon Flexner published the results of a study of tropical diseases encountered in Manila (Philippines) among American troops and natives. This work was conducted in collaboration with Lewellyn F. Barker. "This study was made under the authority of the Government of the United States the privileges be-
ing accorded us as representing a civil commission, sent out by the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore ... " (Flexner, 1900a). Flexner differentiated between an amoebic and a bacillary form of tropical dysentery, the latter occurring in an acute and a chronic form. In both clinical forms, although to a lesser extent in acute cases, he isolated bacteria of ambiguous identity, possibly E. coli. - His "Type I bacillus" occurring "with regularity in the acute disease" had "the average size of B. coli communis, ... the individuals usually separate; sometimes united in pairs, but only very rarely do they occur as filaments". Gram's stain was negative. On agar plates the "colonies resemble those of B. typhosus" . He gave a short description of the growth in gelatine and on potatoes. "Glucose, lactose and saccharose are not fermented gaseously. In glucose media a moderate acid-production takes place". Indol was not produced. Like Shiga he found: "The bacillus shows moderate mobility". The greater part of his publication (Flexner, 1900a) is dedicated to animal experiments as well as to gross and histological pathology. Flexner concluded: "The microorganism described as the cause of bacillary dysentery agrees in its morphological, cultural and pathogenic properties with the bacillus isolated by Shiga from the epidemic dysentery prevailing in Japan. There is every reason to consider that they are identical and to conclude from the studies herein related that the B. dysenteriae has a wide distribution in nature". But there was one thing both, Shiga and Flexner, had not reckoned with. Kruse described his bacterium as non-motile, and he wrote, that this and the differences in the growth of his and Shiga's bacillus distinguish both agents. Kruse was more specific than Flexner who stated "moderate mobility", and he wrote "only an un-
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h.c. Werner Kohler, Adolf-Reichwein-Stral5e 26, D-07745 jena, Germany 1438-4221100/290/1-5 $ 12.0010
6
W. Kohler
\,~",1 RA,~BLAl'l' Bak!eriolo~ie, Parasilenkun~e un~
lnfeklionskrankheilen.
Erste Abteihmg:
Medicinisch-hygienische Bakteriologie und tierische Parasitenkunde. In Verbindung mit
Gen, Med .. Rat Prof. Dr. Loeffler, Prof, Dr, R Pfeiffer in Grcirswa1d
nod
in Kunigsberg
Slaatsrat ProF, Dr, M. Brann herallsgcgcllen von
Dr. O. Uhlw-orm. in Cassel. Verlag von Gustav Fischer 1n Jena. XXVIII. Daud.
No. 19.
~ Jan", den 30. November [<)00. -
Preil fiir den Band (26 }fummern) 15 Mark. - Ji.hrJleh encheinen :lwei· BAnde. Preia: fur eiDe einfacbe Nammer 73 PIg•• tnr aine DoppelDummer 1 Mark liD Pfg. Hummern mit Taleln koaten fur jede TRfel 60 Pfg. mehr. Hierzu al.. regcltnl~/sige Reilage die Inhallsiibcl'sichten der II. Ablciifmg de! CtntralblaUU.
Die Ret/aktioll- des 1JC~H-fralblatts tilr Bctktf'ri%gie tI."d Parasitel1kunile" richtet au. die Herren Mitarbeiler die ergebeue Bitte J ei:uJaiRe Wilnsclte 14m Lieterul1g von besonderen Abdriieken ilirer Alifscilxe enlweder hei: del' FAnseudul1g de1' Abhandlullgel1 an die Redaktiou aUf das Mam~skripl schreiben :~U «'ollen oder spiifesfens "aeh Elite/mIff der ersten Korrekturam..f7ge dirf!kt 'an ~1~u___ ~e~:~'!~._I!._e!~ ~~~~tav !,~r;~!e~ .t1~/·""-~'.!.!!..~,._~elangen xu lassen. _=
Original-Mitteilungen.
l.Yachdruck verboten.
The Etiology oL Tropical Dysentery. By Simon IIICXIICI', M. D., Professor of Pathology, University of l'cnnl'yhRnia, Philadelphia., Pn. In the summer of the past year (1S!)!)) I was associated. with Professor L. F. Bar Ie e 1', in the study of tropical diseases encountered in Manila, Philippine Islands, among the American troops and natives. This study was made under the authority of the Government of the United States the privileges being accorded us as representing a e~vil commission, sent out by the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, for the study of tropical disease. In the course of the studies conducted by us especial attention was given to the dysenteries which prevailed to a great extent among the American troops. The dysenteries were stndied bacteriologically alHl pathologically with the following results: Eute Abt. XXVIII. Hd.
40
Fig. 1. First page of Simon Flexner's publication "The Etiology of Tropical
Dysentery" in "Centralblatt fOr Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten", 1. Abt. 28 (1900) 625-631.
trained would interpret the quick molecular movement of the rods in the hanging drop as a real mobility" ("Nur ein Ungeiibter wiirde die lebhafte Molekularbewegung der Stiibchen im hiingenden Tropfen ... als echte Eigenbewegung deuten" (Kruse, 1901)). Both,
Shiga and Flexner responded to Kruse's remarks. Shiga examined one strain from Kruse and another from Flexner, and found both to be motile (Shiga, 1901). Finally, Flexner stated in this journal, whether motile or not: "I do not regard it as important" (Flexner, 1901). It must be emphasized that at the time of Flexner's detection of Shigella flexneri biochemical methods were insufficient for differentiation of the shigellae and specific antisera were not available. The name Shigella flexneri was introduced in 1919 by Castellani and Chalmers but up to the 6 th edition of Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (1948) the designation coined by Collins in 1905 was used "Shigella paradysenteriae". It was not earlier than in the 7 th edition of the Manual (1957) that the name valid at present came into use: Shigella flexneri Castellani and Chalmers 1919.
References Chantemesse, A., Widal, E: Sur les microbes de la dysenterie epidemique. Bull. Acad. med. Ser. 3, 19, 522-529 (1888). Castellani, A., Chalmers, A. J.: Manual of Tropical Medicine. yd ed., Williams, Wood & Co., New York, p. 937 (1919). Flexner, S.: The Etiology of Tropical Dysentery. Cbl. Bakteri01. Parasitenkde. Infektionskrankh. I. Orig. 28, 625-631, (1900a). Flexner, S.: On the etiology of tropical dysentery. Phil. Med.J.6, 414 (1900b). Flexner, S.: On the etiology of tropical dysentery. Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp.19, 231-242 (1900c). Flexner, S.: A comparative study of dysentery bacilli. Cbl. Bakteriol. Parasitenkd. Infektionskrankh.1. Orig. 30,449-454 (1901). Kruse, W.: Ueber die Ruhr als Volkskrankheit und ihren Erreger. Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. 26, 637-639 (1900). Kruse, W: Weitere Untersuchungen iiber die Ruhr. Dtsch. Med, Wochenschr. 27, 370-372; 386-388 (1901). Mochmann, H., Kohler, W.: Meilensteine der Bakteriologie. 2. Aufi., Edition Wotzel, FrankfurtiM 1997. Shiga, K: Ueber den Dysenteriebacillus (Bacillus dysenteriae). Cbl. Bakteriol. Parasitenkdd, Infektionskrankh. I. Abt. Orig. 24, 817-828 (1898). Shiga, K.: Studien iiber die epidemische Dysenterie in Japan, unter besonderer Beriicksichtigung des Bacillus dysenteriae. Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. 27, 741-744; 765-769; 783-786 (p. 785) (1901).
Int. J. Med. Microbial. 290, 5-6 (2000) © Urban & Fischer Verlag http://www.urbanfischer.de/jaurnals/ijmm
Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie - 100 years ago The isolation of Shigella flexneri Werner Kohler (Formely Friedrich Schiller-Universitat jena, Institut fur Experimentelle Mikrobiologie)
History should not be restricted to learned historians, history of sciences and medicine should also be of interest to all researchers working in these fields. Isaac Newton's sentence that we are standing on the shoulders of giants should be kept in mind by every scientist. Therefore, we will recall in the forthcoming issues of the relaunched "International Journal of Medical Microbiology" what happened 100 years ago in the old, trilingual "Centralblatt fur Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten", edited by F. Loeffler, R. Pfeiffer and M. Braun. The most important paper in the two volumes published in 1900 is possibly the publication of Simon Flexner "The Etiology of Tropical Dysentery" (Flexner, 1900a) (Fig. 1). At the same time he published his results also in two American journals (Flexner, 1900b, c; Mochmann and Kohler, 1997). " Chantemesse and Widal (1888) seem to be the first, who isolated shigellae, but their description was too insufficient as to consider them to be the discoverers of the agent of bacterial dysentery. It was Kiyoshi Shiga (1870 - 1957) from Tokyo who isolated in 1897 the microorganism, which is now known as Shigella dysenteriae, during a severe epidemic (lethality 25%) in Japan. Shiga proposed - in this journal - the name Bacillus dysenteriae (Shiga, 1898). Shortly afterwards (in 1900), Walther Kruse (1864 - 1943), at that time in Bonn, isolated the same organisms during a dysentery outbreak in Laar (Westphalia) (Kruse, 1900). In the same year, Simon Flexner published the results of a study of tropical diseases encountered in Manila (Philippines) among American troops and natives. This work was conducted in collaboration with Lewellyn F. Barker. "This study was made under the authority of the Government of the United States the privileges be-
ing accorded us as representing a civil commission, sent out by the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore ... " (Flexner, 1900a). Flexner differentiated between an amoebic and a bacillary form of tropical dysentery, the latter occurring in an acute and a chronic form. In both clinical forms, although to a lesser extent in acute cases, he isolated bacteria of ambiguous identity, possibly E. coli. - His "Type I bacillus" occurring "with regularity in the acute disease" had "the average size of B. coli communis, ... the individuals usually separate; sometimes united in pairs, but only very rarely do they occur as filaments". Gram's stain was negative. On agar plates the "colonies resemble those of B. typhosus" . He gave a short description of the growth in gelatine and on potatoes. "Glucose, lactose and saccharose are not fermented gaseously. In glucose media a moderate acid-production takes place". Indol was not produced. Like Shiga he found: "The bacillus shows moderate mobility". The greater part of his publication (Flexner, 1900a) is dedicated to animal experiments as well as to gross and histological pathology. Flexner concluded: "The microorganism described as the cause of bacillary dysentery agrees in its morphological, cultural and pathogenic properties with the bacillus isolated by Shiga from the epidemic dysentery prevailing in Japan. There is every reason to consider that they are identical and to conclude from the studies herein related that the B. dysenteriae has a wide distribution in nature". But there was one thing both, Shiga and Flexner, had not reckoned with. Kruse described his bacterium as non-motile, and he wrote, that this and the differences in the growth of his and Shiga's bacillus distinguish both agents. Kruse was more specific than Flexner who stated "moderate mobility", and he wrote "only an un-
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h.c. Werner Kohler, Adolf-Reichwein-Stral5e 26, D-07745 jena, Germany 1438-4221100/290/1-5 $ 12.0010
6
W. Kohler
\,~",1 RA,~BLAl'l' Bak!eriolo~ie, Parasilenkun~e un~
lnfeklionskrankheilen.
Erste Abteihmg:
Medicinisch-hygienische Bakteriologie und tierische Parasitenkunde. In Verbindung mit
Gen, Med .. Rat Prof. Dr. Loeffler, Prof, Dr, R Pfeiffer in Grcirswa1d
nod
in Kunigsberg
Slaatsrat ProF, Dr, M. Brann herallsgcgcllen von
Dr. O. Uhlw-orm. in Cassel. Verlag von Gustav Fischer 1n Jena. XXVIII. Daud.
No. 19.
~ Jan", den 30. November [<)00. -
Preil fiir den Band (26 }fummern) 15 Mark. - Ji.hrJleh encheinen :lwei· BAnde. Preia: fur eiDe einfacbe Nammer 73 PIg•• tnr aine DoppelDummer 1 Mark liD Pfg. Hummern mit Taleln koaten fur jede TRfel 60 Pfg. mehr. Hierzu al.. regcltnl~/sige Reilage die Inhallsiibcl'sichten der II. Ablciifmg de! CtntralblaUU.
Die Ret/aktioll- des 1JC~H-fralblatts tilr Bctktf'ri%gie tI."d Parasitel1kunile" richtet au. die Herren Mitarbeiler die ergebeue Bitte J ei:uJaiRe Wilnsclte 14m Lieterul1g von besonderen Abdriieken ilirer Alifscilxe enlweder hei: del' FAnseudul1g de1' Abhandlullgel1 an die Redaktiou aUf das Mam~skripl schreiben :~U «'ollen oder spiifesfens "aeh Elite/mIff der ersten Korrekturam..f7ge dirf!kt 'an ~1~u___ ~e~:~'!~._I!._e!~ ~~~~tav !,~r;~!e~ .t1~/·""-~'.!.!!..~,._~elangen xu lassen. _=
Original-Mitteilungen.
l.Yachdruck verboten.
The Etiology oL Tropical Dysentery. By Simon IIICXIICI', M. D., Professor of Pathology, University of l'cnnl'yhRnia, Philadelphia., Pn. In the summer of the past year (1S!)!)) I was associated. with Professor L. F. Bar Ie e 1', in the study of tropical diseases encountered in Manila, Philippine Islands, among the American troops and natives. This study was made under the authority of the Government of the United States the privileges being accorded us as representing a e~vil commission, sent out by the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, for the study of tropical disease. In the course of the studies conducted by us especial attention was given to the dysenteries which prevailed to a great extent among the American troops. The dysenteries were stndied bacteriologically alHl pathologically with the following results: Eute Abt. XXVIII. Hd.
40
Fig. 1. First page of Simon Flexner's publication "The Etiology of Tropical
Dysentery" in "Centralblatt fOr Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten", 1. Abt. 28 (1900) 625-631.
trained would interpret the quick molecular movement of the rods in the hanging drop as a real mobility" ("Nur ein Ungeiibter wiirde die lebhafte Molekularbewegung der Stiibchen im hiingenden Tropfen ... als echte Eigenbewegung deuten" (Kruse, 1901)). Both,
Shiga and Flexner responded to Kruse's remarks. Shiga examined one strain from Kruse and another from Flexner, and found both to be motile (Shiga, 1901). Finally, Flexner stated in this journal, whether motile or not: "I do not regard it as important" (Flexner, 1901). It must be emphasized that at the time of Flexner's detection of Shigella flexneri biochemical methods were insufficient for differentiation of the shigellae and specific antisera were not available. The name Shigella flexneri was introduced in 1919 by Castellani and Chalmers but up to the 6 th edition of Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (1948) the designation coined by Collins in 1905 was used "Shigella paradysenteriae". It was not earlier than in the 7 th edition of the Manual (1957) that the name valid at present came into use: Shigella flexneri Castellani and Chalmers 1919.
References Chantemesse, A., Widal, E: Sur les microbes de la dysenterie epidemique. Bull. Acad. med. Ser. 3, 19, 522-529 (1888). Castellani, A., Chalmers, A. J.: Manual of Tropical Medicine. yd ed., Williams, Wood & Co., New York, p. 937 (1919). Flexner, S.: The Etiology of Tropical Dysentery. Cbl. Bakteri01. Parasitenkde. Infektionskrankh. I. Orig. 28, 625-631, (1900a). Flexner, S.: On the etiology of tropical dysentery. Phil. Med.J.6, 414 (1900b). Flexner, S.: On the etiology of tropical dysentery. Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp.19, 231-242 (1900c). Flexner, S.: A comparative study of dysentery bacilli. Cbl. Bakteriol. Parasitenkd. Infektionskrankh.1. Orig. 30,449-454 (1901). Kruse, W.: Ueber die Ruhr als Volkskrankheit und ihren Erreger. Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. 26, 637-639 (1900). Kruse, W: Weitere Untersuchungen iiber die Ruhr. Dtsch. Med, Wochenschr. 27, 370-372; 386-388 (1901). Mochmann, H., Kohler, W.: Meilensteine der Bakteriologie. 2. Aufi., Edition Wotzel, FrankfurtiM 1997. Shiga, K: Ueber den Dysenteriebacillus (Bacillus dysenteriae). Cbl. Bakteriol. Parasitenkdd, Infektionskrankh. I. Abt. Orig. 24, 817-828 (1898). Shiga, K.: Studien iiber die epidemische Dysenterie in Japan, unter besonderer Beriicksichtigung des Bacillus dysenteriae. Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. 27, 741-744; 765-769; 783-786 (p. 785) (1901).