A Comparison of the Removal of Mucoid and Non-Mucoid Variants of Klebsiella Pneumoniae Type B from the Splanchnic Circulating Blood of the Intact Animal

Abstract

By a method previously described, which permits a quantitation of the rate of removal of bacteria from the splanchnic circulating blood of the intact animal, data have been obtained concerning the effect of variation in the phase of the Klebsiella pneumoniae type B on the efficiency of splanchnic removal. The average splanchnic removal in normal male rabbits of a mucoid encapsulated K. pneumoniae type B was 20 ± 10% (S.D.). This was increased, following varying degrees of prior experimental contact of the animal with the organism, to from 43 to 85 per cent. The average splanchnic removal in normal rabbits of a non-mucoid variant of K. pneumoniae type B was 56 ± 15% (S.D.). Prior experimental contact of the animal with the non-mucoid bacterium did not alter the removal rate.