Cytotoxic activity of Aeromonas hydrophila.

Most strains of Aeromonas hydrophila tested demonstrated cytotoxic activity on several tissue-cultured cell lines. The cytotoxin is heat-labile, non-dialyzable, and immunologically distinct from that of Shigella dysenteriae and Clostridium perfringens. None of the aeromonas isolates was found to be enterotoxigenic by either tissue culture or rabbit ileal loop assays.