Abstract
Summary
Chloroform: methanol extractable lipid(s) from rabbit dermis and epidermis has the ability to prevent hemolysis of erythrocytes by streptolysin O, an extracellular antigen of Group A streptococci. The data from this study also indicate that these same lipid preparations are able to suppress the immune response to this streptococcal antigen. These experimental data appear to provide a logical explanation for the epidemiologic finding that the antistreptolysin O response is feeble following streptococcal impetigo. They may also bear on the clinical observation that rheumatic fever fails to develop after Group A streptococcal infections of the skin.
The authors acknowledge the valuable technical assistance of Mrs. Lois Helland and Miss Karen Tanaka in these studies.
This work was monitored by the Commission on Streptococcal and Staphylococcal Diseases of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board, and was supported in part by the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (DADA17-70-C-0081). This work was also supported in part by a grant from the U. S. Public Health Service (AI 09527). Dr. Wannamaker is a Career Investigator of the American Heart Association.
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