Slime of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: in vivo production.

Indirect hemagglutination inhibition tests were employed to detect slime in concentrations as low as 1 mug/ml. Increasing concentrations of slime resulted in proportionately greater inhibition of hemagglutination. Peritoneal aspirates and plasma of mice injected with slime were shown to exhibit the inhibitory activity of slime. The rapid dissemination of slime into the peripheral circulation was also indicated by the hemagglutination of mouse erythrocytes by specific anti-slime serum. By similar methods, the inhibitory activity of slime was also detected in peritoneal aspirates and plasma of mice infected with lethal doses of viable Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Furthermore, the inhibitory activity was found to increase with time after viable cell infection, whereas such increases were not detected after the injection of heat-killed organisms. Ferritin-labeled slime antibodies were found to completely surround cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa obtained from the peritoneal cavity of mice 5 h postinfection.