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. 1975 Jun;11(6):1203–1209. doi: 10.1128/iai.11.6.1203-1209.1975

Immunological Properties of Rickettsia rickettsii Purified by Zonal Centrifugation

R L Anacker 1, R K Gerloff 1, L A Thomas 1, R E Mann 1, W D Bickel 1
PMCID: PMC415200  PMID: 806522

Abstract

The properties of Rickettsia rickettsii purified from infected chicken yolk sacs or mouse L cell cultures by sucrose density gradient centrifugation in a zonal rotor were examined in various ways. Rickettsiae derived from both L cells and yolk sacs had similar compositions: about 12% nitrogen, 1.5% phosphorus, 5% carbohydrate, and 30% fatty acids. On a dry-weight basis, purified rickettsiae were at least 2,000 times as effective as a commercial spotted fever vaccine in protecting guinea pigs against infection with spotted fever rickettsiae and mice against death from toxin of R. rickettsii. Gradient-purified rickettsiae (0.6 μg) induced a serological response in guinea pigs of the same magnitude as that stimulated by 1,600 μg of the commercial vaccine. Gradient-purified rickettsiae had little group reactivity in complement fixation tests but became anti-complementary upon storage. Microagglutination and hemagglutination tests with the purified antigen gave promise of usefulness in diagnosis of spotted fever. These results suggest that zonal centrifugation may be a valuable procedure for the preparation of R. rickettsii vaccine and diagnostic reagent.

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Selected References

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

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