Paper Title
REVIEW ON GROWTH OF NEISSERIA MENINGITIDIS IN CHEMICALLY DEFINED MEDIAS AND ROLE OF NUTRIENTS ON GROWTH
Introduction
Bacterial meningitis—an infectious disease common to human beings—remains a serious global threat especially in the “meningitis belt” in the sub-Saharan Africa and the US. Neisseria meningitidis is the causative organism of this deadly disease which is a Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, diplococci bacteria and is characterized by its antiphagocytic polysaccharide capsule. There are 13 clinically significant serogroups of this organisms—A, B, C, D, E29, H, I, K, L, W135, X, Y, Z, which depend on the antigenic structure of their polysaccharide capsule, among which A, B, C, X, Y and W-135 are the major pathogenic strains. 10% of the entire population in the “meningitis belt” is the carrier of this organism and if the infected people are not treated on time, the mortality reaches 100%. Nutritional studies for the growth of Neisseria meningitidis were started in 1940s by a number of researchers. Protective immunity to Neisseria meningitidis bacteria involves an antibody response to polysaccharide antigen except serogroup B. Polysaccharide vaccines against Neisseria meningitidis prevent infection by inducing an immune response against the specific capsular polysaccharide. At present, high cost of available vaccines makes it unaffordable for the common people. The high cost of the vaccines is due to the low productivity of polysaccharide; less recovery and high cost of purification process. If the cost in producing polysaccharide is lowered down, the ultimate market cost of the vaccine can be reduced. This review aims to provide a brief account of media and process parameters for the growth of Neisseria meningitidis for better yield of polysaccharide and metabolism involved during the growth and PS production.
Keywords: Bacterial meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis, Role of nutrients on growth.