Erich Seligmann

Virulence enhancement of Candida albicans by antibiotics and cortisone.

Summary 1. Terramycin has the same virulence enhancing effect on Candida albicans as aureomycin. Other antibiotics failed to show this effect. 2. Terramycin due to its stability acts after standing or boiling while aureomycin, which is not stable on standing and is heat labile, does not. This parallels their antibiotic activities. 3. Only the intraperitoneal injection of either drug and fungus is effective in producing a fatal infection. All other routes of administration and combination were negative. 4. Intravenous injection of drug and fungus indicates a protective effect. 5. Cortisone administered shortly before and after infection with Candida albicans produces a generalized fatal infection. 6. Lowered resistance of the animal to infection is considered as the cause of “virulence enhancement.”

Virulence enhancing activities of aureomycin on Candida albicans.

Summary 1. Candida suspensions are nonpathogenic, and aureomycin solutions nontoxic, when either of these alone is injected intraperitoneally into mice. The mixture of both is fatal. 2. A similar “drug-fungus” effect though less pronounced was observed when aureomycin was given from 24 hours before to 4 hours after Candida inoculation. Given 8 and 24 hours after infection aureomycin was ineffective. 3. The virulence enhancing activity of aureomycin was destroyed on standing at room temperature or by boiling, a parallel to its antibiotic activity. 4. No indication of toxin production or biological alteration of Candida was found in vitro. 5. No direct growth stimulating effect by aureomycin on Candida was observed in cultures. The action in vivo was one of lowering the animals resistance.

Action of chloromycetin on Salmonella.

Summary Chloromycetin inhibits the growth of Salmonella organisms in vitro remarkably, but is not able even in large amounts to control Salmonella infections in mice. Neither the oral nor the subcutaneous form of treatment prevented the fatal outcome of the disease in most animals, although it prolonged the survival time. Its action in the animals was bacteriostatic and not bactericidal. Due to its absorption conditions, Chloromycetin exerts no influence on the intestinal flora, when given orally.

Streptomycin treatment of salmonella enteritis in infants

Summary 1. Five infants infected with S. typhimurium , were treated with streptomycin;four of them by oral administration only, one with combined oral and parenteral therapy. 2. The clinical course of the infection was rather mild in the treated and untreated infants. The effect on the symptoms of the disease could not be appraised. 3. Doses from 25 to 100 mg. orally given at intervals of three hours succeeded in suppressing the growth of the normal fecal bacteria as well as the pathogenic organism. 4. Discontinuance of treatment resulted in quick reappearance of S. typhimurium and the normal fecal flora. 5. Salmonella organisms isolated after the end of treatment showed noincreased streptomycin resistance. 6. Almost identical results were obtained in animal experiments. 7. The possible therapeutic value of the limited bacteriostatic effect ofstreptomycin in salmonellosis is discussed.

A heretofore Undescribed Phase-Variation in Salmonella.

Summary and Conclusions The natural appearance of an inagglutinable but antigenproducing “mixed” phase of a S. typhimurium is described. The phase i, the presence of which could not be elicited in the original cultures, was brought out by the use of Gard technic. An agglutinable “mixed” phase was produced in vivo. Data on the different phase variations of this Salmonella variant are given. The described observations raise a number of theoretical questions unanswerable for the time being. This paper, therefore, limits itself to a statement of the facts.

A New Salmonella Type : S. Virginia.

Summary S. Virginia, a new Salmonella type, has been described. It was isolated from a case of human enteritis and has the formula VIII; d —.