The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 8, Issue 2 325-335, Copyright © 1975 by Society for General Microbiology
Differential ability of colonial types of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to produce infection cutaneous perforated plastic chambers in guinea-pigs and rabbits
D. R. Veale, H. Smith, K. A. Witt and R. B. Marshall
Perforated plastic chambers implanted subcutaneously in guinea-pigs and
rabbits became encapsulated and filled with sterile transudate. When these
chambers in guinea-pigs were inoculated with various strans of Neisseria
gonorrhoeae, persistent infections were achieved without the use of
anti-inflammation agents and in the presence of a substantial predominantly
polymorphonuclear inflammatory response. Two strains with small colonies
similar to types 1 and 2, and one strain with large colonies similar to
type 4 of Kellogg et al. (1963 and 1968), showed differences in infectivity
comparable with those that might be expected in man, and passage through
guinea-pig chambers increased this infectivity. Rabbit chambers could not
be infected without the use of an anti-inflammation drug (betamethasone),
and differences in infectivity between strains were not as clear cut. The
growth of N. gonorrhoeae in chambers in the guinea-pig provides a
convenient model system for studying some aspects of the pathogenicity of
this organism.
