Actionin vitro de la pénicilline sur la virulence du Tréponème pâle

Summary

The Ghent strain ofTreponema pallidum loses entirely its virulence for the rabbit when mixed invitro during 1 hour at 18° C or 3 hours at 37° C with a solution of “penicillin sodium Chas. Pfizer & Co., Inc.” or with “penicillin C.S.C. sodium salt of the Commercial Solvent Corporation” at the rate of 10,000 Oxford units per cm³. The injection of 20,000 units in each testicle of the animal, when made immediately before or at the same time as the inoculation of the virus, does not protect against the infection. It is therefore possible to prevent syphilis by penicillizing the blood for transfusion. But too great amounts of the drug are required in practice. It must also be proved that chemically pure penicillin has the same treponemicid action.