In Vitro Inhibition of Growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Neisseria meningitidis Isolated from the Pharynx of Homosexual Men

Despite the high prevalence of pharyngeal gonorrhea and of meningococcal carriage among homosexual men, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis are rarely co-isolated from the throat. Forty-seven meningococcal isolates from the pharynx of homosexual men were examined, by a lawn-spotting method, for their ability to inhibit N. gonorrhoeae in vitro. Eight (17%) of the meningococcal isolates were inhibitory when tested against gonococci from the same patient, while 31 (66%) were inhibitory when tested against N. gonorrhoeae strain 650 (T1). The colonial type T1 of a given strain was, in all cases tested, more sensitive to the inhibitory activities than the corresponding T4 type. Since the meningococci co-isolated from the throat with gonococci were at least as inhibitory in vitro as those isolated without gonococci, the natural resistance to gonococcal pharyngitis cannot be explained on the basis of the inhibitory activities produced by the meningococci in vitro. The inhibitory strains of N. meningitidis were identified in decreasing importance as: nonserogroupable, W135, C, B, 29E, and X. The addition of trypsin to the solid medium removed the inhibition produced by the meningococci, an observation suggesting the involvement of protein inhibitors.