TABLE 1.

S. aureus density in cardiac vegetations, kidneys, and spleen with different inocula in the rat endocarditis model

Inoculum (no. of animals)	Mean log10 CFU/g of tissue ± SDa in:
	Vegetation	Kidney	Spleen
106 CFU/animal (9)	10.36 ± 0.85	7.30 ± 0.64	6.70 ± 0.57
105 CFU/animal (8)	9.93 ± 0.53	7.14 ± 0.53	6.44 ± 0.63
104 CFU/animal (7)	3.46 ± 0.50*	1.81 ± 0.74*	1.58 ± 0.59*

^aSD, standard deviation. P < 0.001 with respect to 10⁵ or 10⁶ CFU-challenged animals.