Abstract
There have been many clinical and experimental studies of arthritis and its associated conditions. The results and hypotheses set forth, however, are confusing and conflicting, especially regarding etiology and mechanism of production. Experimental inflammatory reactions have been produced within joints by intra-articular and intravenous injections of virulent and attenuated microorganisms, bacterial toxins and various chemical agents. It has been postulated by various authors that the localization of a focus may be influenced by trauma, allergic responses and by the particular structure of joint tissues.
Studies of the blood supply and infarction of the femur in rabbits 1 demonstrated that a suspension of charcoal and agglutinated staphylococci, living or dead, can act as arterial emboli and produce septic or aseptic infarcts in bone. These infarcts occurred regularly beneath epiphyseal and articular cartilages due to end-capillaries between ossifying columns of calcined matrix and to relative poor collateral circulation to subchondral tissues. Since some of the septic infarcts were accompanied by exudative arthritis, it seemed desirable to investigate further the relationship of joint infection to embolic disturbances in contiguous bone and cartilage structures.
Healthy growing rabbits (500 to 2000 gm.) were given intravenous (ear vein) injections of fully virulent, partially sterilized and killed agglutinated and non-agglutinated saline suspensions of a hemolytic staphylococcus aureus made from 24-hr. agar-slant cultures. The organism was obtained from the blood stream of a man with a subperiosteal abscess. Agglutination and partial or complete sterilization were produced by one to 5 drops of N/10 sulphuric acid per cubic centimeter of suspension. The amounts injected, singly or in divided doses, ranged from 0.0025 (virulent) to 1.5 cc. (killed suspension) depending upon the size of the animal, the effects desired and upon the amount of acid and the time added before injection. The animals died or were killed from 1 to 115 days after the first injection and all abnormal bone, joint and viscera tissues were taken for histologic study. A pure growth of staphylococcus, similar to the strain injected, was obtained from all foci cultured.
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