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Inhibition of toxin production inClostridium perfringens in vitro by hyperbaric oxygen

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Abstract

Since 1960, gas gangrene has been treated by the administration of pure oxygen at 3 atmospheres absolute (3 ATA).

Small animals are useless for research at this pressure because of oxygen intoxication.

In vitro, the growth ofClostridium perfringens (C. welchii) was not arrested by 1 1/2 hr of hyperbaric oxygen at 3 ATA, but the production of α toxin is inhibited during this period. It is not inhibited at 2 ATA. If the results of the conservative treatment of patients with hyperbaric oxygen depend upon a comparable process, such treatment at less than 3 ATA would probably be ineffective.

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Author notes

  1. A. J. M. van Unnik

    Present address: St. Ignatius Ziekenhuis, Breda, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    A. J. M. van Unnik

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  1. A. J. M. van Unnik
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van Unnik, A.J.M. Inhibition of toxin production inClostridium perfringens in vitro by hyperbaric oxygen. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 31, 181–186 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02045889

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02045889

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