Effect of purine derivatives, papaverine hydrochloride, and imidazole on enterotoxin formation by Clostridium perfringens type A

The percentage sporulation and enterotoxin specific activity were improved for all of five Clostridium perfringens strains, and numbers of heat-resistant spores were improved for four of five strains by replacing proteose peptone with peptone in Duncan-Strong (DS) medium. When raffinose replaced starch in DS, peptone was superior to proteose peptone in increasing percentage sporulation, numbers of heat-resistant spores, and enterotoxin formation for four of five strains. Enterotoxin levels for a strain varied when different lots of the same peptone were used. Additional experiments were conducted with three C. perfringens strains grown in DS medium with peptone. Enterotoxin specific activity was increased for three strains by adding papaverine (hydrochloride crystalline), for two strains by adding each of caffeine and 3-isobutyl-l-methylxanthine, for one strain by adding each of theophylline, 6-mercaptopurine, and 2-amino-6-mercaptopurine, and for none of the strains by adding imidazole. When enterotoxin formation was improved for a strain by one of the compounds, percentage sporulation increased, but growth decreased. Effective compounds also increased numbers of heat-resistant spores for strains H6 and R42, but slightly or not at all for strain E13. The action of these compounds was concentration dependent, with the optimal concentration differing between compounds and between strains grown in the presence of the same compound.