Normal Bactericidins in Sera of the Domestic Fowl

Abstract

BLOOD has been known for many years to contain bacteriostatic agents called bactericidins which are capable of inhibiting or destroying certain organisms. One of the earliest workers was Nuttall (1888) who showed clearly that blood had the property of destroying “anthrax-subtilus.” Buckner (1889) showed that if the leucocytes were removed from the serum, the bactericidal property was retained. Irwin and Hughes (1933) report that whole blood from two inbred strains of rats, highly susceptible to S. enteritidis, showed little or no bactericidal action. Individuals whose blood showed varying degrees of bactericidal activity when infected artificially were approximately equally distributed in surviving and non-surviving groups. Wulf (1934) gives a report of a thermostabile bactericidal substance in human sera during fever; its effects was particularly seen with a strain of meningococcus. Silverthorne (1937) presented data to show that guinea-pigs are protected against meningococci when bactericidal power has been stimulated in their blood .