Differential ability of colonial types of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to produce infection cutaneous perforated plastic chambers in guinea-pigs and rabbits.

Perforated plastic chambers implanted subcutaneously in guinea-pigs and rabbits became encapsulated and filled with sterile transudate. When these chambers in guinea-pigs were inoculated with various strans of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, persistent infections were achieved without the use of anti-inflammation agents and in the presence of a substantial predominantly polymorphonuclear inflammatory response. Two strains with small colonies similar to types 1 and 2, and one strain with large colonies similar to type 4 of Kellogg et al. (1963 and 1968), showed differences in infectivity comparable with those that might be expected in man, and passage through guinea-pig chambers increased this infectivity. Rabbit chambers could not be infected without the use of an anti-inflammation drug (betamethasone), and differences in infectivity between strains were not as clear cut. The growth of N. gonorrhoeae in chambers in the guinea-pig provides a convenient model system for studying some aspects of the pathogenicity of this organism.