Variation in the Antigenic Composition of Staphylococcal Coagulase

Abstract

SUMMARY: Four different antigenic types of coagulase were identified. Antisera were prepared in rabbits against three of these, and a specific antiserum against the fourth was found in a normal human. The coagulases of all but two of the human strains examined were inhibited by one or other of two of these antisera and in a few cases by both; in addition antibodies of the same type were present in the sera of the majority of a group of normal adults. The coagulases produced by thirty-five animal strains were inhibited by the other two antisera, but further work is needed on the coagulases found in animal strains.