Abstract
Summary
A method is presented to enable measurement of the initial bactericidal activity in freshly-drawn blood. Although Staphylococcus epidermidis was quickly killed by rabbit serum, whole blood did not become bactericidal until it clotted. The β-lysin which is presumably responsible for the death of gram-positive bacteria in serum could not be released from platelets into the circulating blood by injection of endotoxin into sensitized rabbits. No inhibitor for β-lysin was found in unclotted blood.
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