Toxic Products of Bacterium Enteritidis and of Related Micro-Organisms

Abstract

Gaertner,' in 1888, the first to attribute meat poisoning to an infection and the first to isolate and describe an organism responsible for it, found that boiled cultures of Bact. enteritidis which he isolated from the flesh of a cow were toxic for guinea-pigs and rabbits when inoculated intraperitoneally. Since then thermostable toxic substances have been reported frequently, especially in connection with outbreaks of food poisoning. A summary of this work may be seen in table 1. Although most workers have agreed that toxic substances are present in broth cultures of paratyphoid organisms, there has been great difference of opinion concerning the properties of these poisons. Some have emphasized their inconstancy of production and their instability; while others have found the toxicity of filtrates kept in the icebox to persist indefinitely. Different degrees of heat resistance have been reported; most investigators have found a definite thermostability. The production of serum that neutralized the toxicity of broth filtrates has been reported by Kraus and Stenitzer, Ecker, Aronovitch, Wherry and Butterfield, and Franchetti. Both Franchetti and Ecker found agglutinins in their immune serum, and Franchetti reported complement-fixation. Precipitation of the toxic substances with ammonium sulphate was obtained by Aronovitch and by Ecker, and with alcohol by Ecker.