Influence of Coagulases and Route of Injection on Staphylococcal Virulence in Mice.

Abstract

Intraperitoneal and intravenous LD50 values of 12 strains of staphylococci, grouped according to free coagulase and the so-called clumping factor or bound coagulase, indicate that mouse virulence of S. aureus is influenced less by route of injection than by nature of the organisms injected. Mucin markedly enhanced mouse virulence for intraperitoneally injected coagulase positive, clumping factor negative staphylococci but not that of other strains. Neither free nor bound coagulase per se appeared to be a critical factor of virulence for mice.