title: A morphological study of the action of equine anti-lipopolysaccharide plasma on gram-negative bacteria.
abstract: Three strains of gram-negative bacteria--one each of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter sp.--were treated with anti-lipopolysaccharide hyperimmune equine plasma (anti-LPS) or non-immune control plasma and examined by scanning electronmicroscopy. Within a few minutes of treatment with anti-LPS, bacteria were agglutinated. Evidence of cell membrane destruction was observed shortly thereafter and total cell disintegration and disruption occurred within 1-2 h. In contrast, non-immune plasma had no effect on cell morphology. This confirms the findings in previous microbiological studies that specific antibodies in anti-LPS bind to lipopolysaccharide (LPS endotoxin), and thereby initiate the destruction of gram-negative bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Natal Medical School, Congella, South Africa.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gaffin
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004754:Enterobacter / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006736:Horses; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology*; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides