The Origin and Function of Opsonins in Experimental Brucellosis of Guinea Pigs

Victor, Joseph; Valliant, Jeanne R.

doi:10.1093/infdis/91.3.207

Cited by 3 publications

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“…(18). This expresses amount of phagocytosis as the per cent of polymorphonuclear neutrophiles containing bacteria, and has been successfully applied to the quantitative measurements of opsonins for Brucalla suis (18)(19)(20), B. abortus (7,12,18), E. coli (5,6,8,12), and Coxidla burnettii (21).…”

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Phagocytosis of Bacteria in the Absence of Antibody and the Effect of Physical Surface

Lerner¹

1956

The Journal of Experimental Medicine

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According to current immunological concept, phagocytosis of virulent bacteria by polymorphonuclear leukocytes may occur in the absence of specific antibody or opsonin. This has been ascribed to the phenomenon of "surface phagocytosis," as described in detail by Wood and coworkers (1-4). They observed that pneumococci were phagocytosed by leukocytes of rat peritoneal exudates when preparations were placed upon a rough surface, but that no phagocytosis occurred when the same preparations were placed upon a smooth surface. This was largely the basis for the conclusion that a rough surface enhanced phagocytosis, with the subsequent deduction that physical factors were responsible for phagocytosis in the absence of antibody.Since previous studies in this laboratory had shown that growth in certain culture media could sensitize bacteria for in vitro phagocytosis in the absence of opsonin (5-7) and in the absence of a rough surface, it was felt desirable to test the hypothesis that the effect of filter paper in Wood's experiments may have been a chemical stimulation rather than a physical surface phenomenon. It was subsequently shown that previous contact of either live or killed Escherichia coli (8) or Brucella abortus (7) with filter paper resulted in increased phagocytosis of these microorganisms by guinea pig or dog polymorphonuclear leukocytes when preparations were rotated in glass tubes. Similar effects were obtained by prior contact of the bacteria with chemically pure para-hydroxybenzoic acid, an active principle found in filter paper and reported by Davis as a new bacterial vitamin and antagonist for para-aminobenzoic acid (9, 10). Contact with fixed tissues had a slightly inhibitory effect on the phagocytosis of E. coli (8). These findings opened to question the conclusions of Wood and coworkers (1-4) that the presence of a rough surface such as that provided by moistened filter paper was necessary for the luekocyte to carry out effective phagocytosis of bacteria. Consequently, studies on the effects of filter paper and para-hydroxybenzoic acid on phagocytosis have been extended to the Pneumococcus.Using previously employed methods of standardization and measurement *Present address:

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