Studies on gonococcus infection. XI. Comparison of in vivo and vitro association of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with human neutrophils.

The levels of association between Neisseria gonorrhoeae and neutrophils as determined by microscopic study of smears of urethral exudate from men with acute gonorrhea and by in vitro assay of N. gonorrhoeae cultivated from those same individuals showed statistically significant correlation. The percentage of N. gonorrhoeae attached to or ingested by neutrophils varied from 30% to 90% in the clinical smears. Neither the apparent in vivo nor the in vitro association with neutrophils could be correlated with piliation of the N. gonorrhoeae studied.