Experimental Streptococcal Pneumonia

Abstract

Sulfonamide and penicillin have been found to be without effect on the development of the characteristic cellular reactions in pneumococcal infections in experimental animals. Wood and Irons (1), in a study of pneumonitis resulting from the intratracheal injection of the Pneumococcus in rats, found that the administration of a sulfonamide had no influence on the character of the anatomic changes in the lungs; this was thought to be due to the fact that the drug produced only bacteriostasis and, therefore, the same defense mechanisms were called into play as are present in the absence of chemotherapy. Penicillin, on the other hand, might be expected to alter the tissue responses of the host infected with pneumococci because of its bactericidal activity against this organism. Skinsnes (2), however, has presented evidence indicating that, in spite of the rapid cessation of spread of pneumococci and their early eradication by phagocytic cells following the use of penicillin, the cellular responses in treated and untreated animals were essentially similar.