Skip to main content
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1929 Jun 30;50(1):41–65. doi: 10.1084/jem.50.1.41

ATTEMPTS TO REPRODUCE RHEUMATIC FEVER IN ANIMALS

Louis Gross 1, Leo Loewe 1, Benjamin Eliasoph 1
PMCID: PMC2131601  PMID: 19869605

Abstract

Experiments have been described in which we attempted to reproduce in animals the lesions characteristic of rheumatic fever in the human. A large number of animals representing 7 species was employed. Among other materials, streptococci isolated in pure culture from the blood of rheumatic patients (proved to be so by biopsy or by autopsy) as well as whole blood, plasma, serum, pericardial, pleural and hydrocele fluid, filtrates from tonsils, subcutaneous nodules, lymph nodes, and nasopharyngeal washings obtained from such patients were used in a variety of combinations and with a number of procedures calculated to predispose the animal to the disease. A discussion is given of the criteria whose fulfillment is essential for the establishment of the experimental production of rheumatic disease in animals. Judged by these criteria, we have failed to reproduce the disease. This conclusion, we believe, holds true for all the work thus far reported in the literature.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.7 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Beattie J. M. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BACTERIOLOGY OF RHEUMATIC FEVER. J Exp Med. 1907 Mar 14;9(2):186–206. doi: 10.1084/jem.9.2.186. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cecil R. L. A STUDY OF EXPERIMENTAL NON-HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCUS LESIONS IN VITALLY STAINED RABBITS. J Exp Med. 1916 Dec 1;24(6):739–758. doi: 10.1084/jem.24.6.739. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Holman W. L. The Classification of Streptococci. J Med Res. 1916 Jul;34(3):377–443. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Miller C. P. SPONTANEOUS INTERSTITIAL MYOCARDITIS IN RABBITS. J Exp Med. 1924 Sep 30;40(4):543–551. doi: 10.1084/jem.40.4.543. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Thalhimer W., Rothschild M. A. ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SUBMILIARY MYOCARDIAL NODULES OF ASCHOFF IN RHEUMATIC FEVER. J Exp Med. 1914 May 1;19(5):417–428. doi: 10.1084/jem.19.5.417. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES