Phagocytic and Opsonic Activities of Germfree Rats.

Mechanism Mediating Reticuloendothelial System Depression After Surgery

“…1, is the halftime ( t J 2 ) for the phagocytic clearance of colloidal carbon at various intervals after surgery. A significant ( p < .OOl) depression in vascular clearance of colloidal carbon was observed a t 15 min postsurgery as indicated (14)(15)(16)(17). by the mean 31% increase in the half-time ( t / 2 ) as compared to control values.…”

“…Male Holtzman rats (225-350 g) were maintained on Rockland Lab-Tek chow and tap water ad libitum Liver donors were anesthetized with ether and rapidly desanguinated prior to liver removal. The excised liver was chilled in cold isotonic saline prior to liver slice preparation with the use of a Stadie-Riggs tissue slicer (16,17). Plasma or serum was obtained by vena caval puncture and maintained briefly at 4O prior to evaluation.…”

“…The incubation system consisted of 3 ml of heparinized (50 USP units/ml) medium, 2000 p g of the 1311-lipid emulsion ( 1 % lipid emulsion with 0.1% gelatin), and the liver slice (14,16). All incubation samples were gassed with 957% 0 2 and 5% CO2 and incubated a t 37' for 30 min.…”

“…Opsonic activity was determined with a liver slice incubation technique (14,16). The incubation system consisted of 3 ml of heparinized (50 USP units/ml) medium, 2000 p g of the 1311-lipid emulsion ( 1 % lipid emulsion with 0.1% gelatin), and the liver slice (14,16).…”

Involvement of the Opsonic System in Starvation Induced Depression of the Reticuloendothelial System

“…Since previous studies have demonstrated that macrophage uptake of various inert colloids, both in vitro (10)(11)(12) and in vivo (13,14), is dependent on the presence of serum or plasma factors called "opsonins," the starvation induced impairment of RES functional activity may be related to alterations in the activity of the opsonic system. Furthermore, the importance of the opsonic system in bacterial phagocytosis (15,16), coupled with the known susceptibility to infection following starvation, suggests that opsonin activity may be related to both the alterations in RE function and natural resistance.…”