The Taxonomic Position of Corynebacterium acnes.

TLDR: A comparative study of a series of isolates and the available authentic cultures of C. acnes is made in an attempt to clarify their taxonomic position.

Abstract: The organism known as the \"acne bacillus\" in medical literature was first observed by Unna (1896) in histological sections of acne comedones, but Sabouraud (1897) was the first to cultivate this organism successfully in pure culture from the contents of acne pustules. Subsequent studies on the etiology of acne vulgaris by Gilchrist (1900, 1903), Hall6 and Civatte (1907), Hartwell and Streeter (1909), Fleming (1909), Suldmerson and Thompson (1909), and Molesworth (1910) indicated that the acne bacilli were morphologically similar to the corynebacteria but differed markedly from these organisms in showing a strong preference for anaerobic conditions. Gilchrist (1900) named the organism Bacillus acnes, whereas Bergey et al. (1923) placed it in the genus Corynebacterium because of its morphological relationship to the members of this group. Our interest in these organisms became aroused following the observation of Weiser and Gunter (1942) of this laboratory that samples of human blood plasma destined for a civilian plasma bank contained anaerobic diphtheroids as one of the principal contaminants. These workers were able to show that such organisms occurred on normal skin and probably gained entry into the blood plasma as the result of ineffective skin disinfection preceding venipuncture. The anaerobic diphtheroids isolated from plasma and skin seemed to fit the general description of Corynebacterium acnes (Bergey et al., 1939), but, as the inclusion of such organisms in the genus Corynebacterium seemed questionable to us, we considered it worth while to make a comparative study of a series of isolates and the available authentic cultures of C. acnes in an attempt to clarify their taxonomic position. It also seemed desirable to obtain quantitative data on the occurrence of these organisms on normal human skin.