Effect of Dextrans on Bacterial Infections in Mice

Abstract

The role of humoral and cellular factors in host resistance against bacterial infections has been well documented by others [6]. Selective suppression of the reticuloendothelial system (RES) has been utilized to elucidate the role of the RES in bacterial pathogenesis, i.e., carbon or saccharinated-iron (proferrin). In search for more appropriate material for selective suppression of the RES, studies were performed with highly purified and well-characterized dextrans currently available for “molecular sieving.” Bonventre and Black-Schaffer [2] reported recently that highmolecular-weight dextran sulfate, but not the low-molecular-weight dextran sulfate or nonionic dextrans, affected the susceptibility of mice to infection with Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella flexneri. They were able to correlate their findings with the function of the RES.