EFFECT OF HUMAN SERUM ON FATALITY OF STAPHYLOCOCCAL INFECTION IN MICE.

Fusillo, Matthew H. (D.C. General Hospital, Washington, D.C.) and Daniel L. Weiss. Effect of human serum on fatality of staphylococcal infection in mice. J. Bacteriol. 86:212-215. 1963.-Mouse plasma is usually not clotted by staphylococcal coagulase. The addition of human serum to mouse plasma activated the production of the plasma clot by staphylococcal coagulase. When anaerobically grown staphylococci were mixed with human serum, in the mice infected, mortality was enhanced in the serum-treated animals when compared with a nonserum-treated control. A heat-stable factor in human serum apparently was responsible for the increased deaths. The possible implications of coagulase in establishing mouse infections are discussed.