Abstract
Summary
Experimental staphylococcal osteomyelitis with S. aureus (Durkin) containing protein A induces in the rabbit an acute rise in heat-stable opsonic factors. The high titers of heat-stable opsonins fall to preinfection levels by the fifth month even though active bone infection persists. The opsonic antibody response in chronic rabbit osteomyelitis, therefore, parallels that in human osteomyelitis. During chronic infection the content of protein A in the staphylococcal organisms increases at least 10-fold. If osteomyelitis is produced in rabbits with staphylococcal strain (Wood 46) lacking protein A, no increase in heat-stable opsonins occurs.
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