Serogrouping of Bacteroides vulgatus by the agglutination test

The agglutination technique was used to establish a serological classification scheme for Bacteroides vulgatus strains isolated from normal human feces and clinical specimens, especially from ulcerative colitis patients. Absorbed antisera to 10 strains of B. vulgatus were prepared. These 10 absorbed antisera were species specific. Of 90 B. vulgatus strains tested, 55 (61%) were agglutinated by one or more of these 10 absorbed antisera. A total of 27 serological patterns were grouped into 18 serogroups; 10 of these serogroups contained only one group component, whereas the other 8 serogroups were composed of more than one component. This serological classification could be used to study the epidemiology of this organism.