Infection and resistance : an exposition of the biological phenomena underlying the occurrence of infection and the recovery of the animal body from infectious disease, with a consideration of the principles underlying specific diagnosis and therapeutic measures / by Hans Zinsser.

  • Zinsser, Hans, 1878-1940.
Date:
1923
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Infection and resistance : an exposition of the biological phenomena underlying the occurrence of infection and the recovery of the animal body from infectious disease, with a consideration of the principles underlying specific diagnosis and therapeutic measures / by Hans Zinsser. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tissues and organs that they will be rendered clear as we proceed with a discussion of the latter. An important point to remember is that there arc only a limited number of bacteria which form true toxins, that is, poisons like the ones described which cause antitoxin formation. The most im- portant of these are: Diphtheria bacillus (Behring and Wernicke), Tetanus bacillus (Behring and Ivitasato), B. Chauvii, or Bacillus of Symptomatic Anthrax (Grassborgcr and Schattenfroh),29 Bacillus botulinus (Kempner),30 Bacillus pyocyaneous (Wassermann),31 Welch bacillus (Bull and Pritchett),32 Vihrion septique (Robert- son),33 Bacillus oedematiens (Weinberg and Seguin).34 Toxin formation has been claimed, and is likely for the Shiga type of dysentery bacillus.35 Toxin production has been claimed, bnt is doubtful in the case of the cholera spirillum, the typhoid bacillus and a number of other organisms. Within the limits of our definition of true toxins of bacterial origin, also are the leucocidins of the Staphylococcus aureus and the hemolysins of the streptococci, staphylococci and some other bacteria. Toxic Effects in the Cases of Bacteria which do not form True Exotoxins.—The majority of pathogenic bacteria do not, as we have seen, produce true toxins or exotoxins. Cultures of cholera spirilla, plague bacilli, and of many other bacteria do not yield toxic filtrates until the cultures have been allowed to stand for prolonged periods during which extraction and possibly autolysis have occurred. In these cases, moreover, definite toxic properties can be demonstrated in the dead cell bodies or in extracts prepared by various methods. In no case, however, is the injection of these “endotoxins” followed by the production of antitoxins. It was very natural to suppose that in micro-organisms of this class the toxic principle might be present in the form of a preformed intracellular poison which could be extracted or which became free as cell-death occurred and dis- integration ensued. It was assumed that, when bacteria entered the animal body and were destroyed by the action of the serum or cells, these endotoxins were liberated and poisoning resulted. The very protective action of the serum, which prevented the extension of the infectious in- vasion, by limiting bacterial growth, was thus looked upon as the agency by which the endotoxins, toxalbumins, were set free. Ex- periments by Radziewsky and others, in which it was shown that large 29 (rrassberger and Schattenfroh. Jllunch, vied. Woch., 1900 and 1901. 30 Kempner. Zeit. f. Hyg., 20, 1897. 31 Wassermann. Zeit. f. Hyg., 22, 1890. 32 Bull and Pritchett. Jour. Exper. Med., 20, 1917, 870. 33 Robertson. Jour. Baitiol. and Bader., 1920. 34 Weinberg and Seguin. La Gangrene Gazeuse, Masson, Paris, 1920. 35 Todd. Brit. Med. Jour., 2, 1903, 1450; Olitsky and Kligler. Jour. Exper. Med., 31, 1920, 19.