Clearance of Bacteria from the Blood of Irradiated Rabbits

Abstract

Summary

Normal and irradiated rabbits were inoculated intravenously with approximately 10⁶ Klebsiella pneumoniae, Type A. At intervals thereafter plate counts were made on peripheral blood. During the first 4 hours after inoculation the rate of clearance of microorganisms from the blood stream was as rapid and almost as complete in rabbits which had been exposed 1-8 days before with 800 r total body x-irradiation (LD_50/30) as in unirradiated controls. From the 8th hour on, in most of the rabbits 3-8 days post-irradiation, the colony counts increased steadily until the animals died. These findings indicate that in the irradiated rabbit the reticulo-endo-thelial system was able for a few hours to remove the bacteria from the circulating blood but was unable to retain and destroy them.