Abstract
Summary
Sterile peritoneal exudate induced in rabbits by infusion of glycogen was found to contain a material causing staphylococcal clumping. Removal of fibrinogen from the exudate partially diminished the clumping titer. The remaining active material was not clottable by thrombin, evoked a precipitation line with antifibrinogen serum in double gel diffusion tests, and was sensitive to heating at 60°. A similar material interacting with staphylococci possessing clumping factor was detected in a cytoplasmic fraction (8200g supernatant) of PMN leukocytes. These data indicate that rabbit peritoneal exudate contains not only fibrinogen but its derivatives. Such derivatives are also present in exudative leukocytes probably due to the phagocytosis and digestion of fibrin. The presence of degradation products of fibrinogen and fibrin in exudative fluid reflects local activation of fibrinolysis in inflammatory foci.
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