Gas Chromatography of Pus as an Indication of Anaerobic Infection

Abstract

Gas liquid chromatographic analyses of fermentation end products are of immense value to the study of the obligately anaerobic bacteria. The most intensively investigated end products in this context are the volatile fatty acids of the series formic to heptanoic, certain other short chain carboxylic acids (notably lactic and succinic) and the low molecular weight alcohols. These end products are generated by anaerobes as a result of fermentation of carbohydrates and amino acids, and are excreted in low concentrations in their growth environment. Gas chromatography has the potential to analyse minute quantities of closely related chemical substances and is eminently suited to the rapid separation, sensitive detection and accurate quantification of these anaerobic bacterial metabolites. The application of this technique with respect to anaerobes was initiated and extensively explored by workers at the Anaerobe Laboratory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (4,5,6).