Effects of experimentally induced Staphylo coccus aureus infection on blood prote fractions in obese rabbits

摘要

Staphylococcus aureus causes suppurative inflammation and is frequently isolated from infected sites in rabbits. The aims of the study was to investigate the variations of blood protein fractions during a 7 days long period after subcutaneous inoculation of Staphylococcus aureus in fattening obese castrated rabbits. For that, male New Zealand White rabbits (n = 6) were castrated at 2.5 months of age, fattened for 1.5 month and subcutaneously inoculated with a 5. aureus field strain (density: 8xl0~8 cfu/mL, injection volume: 100 uL) when they were 4 month old. General health status, water/food intake, rectal temperature and skin lesions at the inoculation site as well as proteinemia, albuminemia and globulinemia were determined for 21 days whereas plasma protein fractions were analysed by electrophoresis for 7 days after the bacterial challenge. Lethargy, a strong decrease in food consumption and a marked hyperthermia were observed during the first 6 hours whereas abscesses were formed in all rabbits at the inoculation sites within 48-96 hours and consecutive invasive suppurative phlegmons persisted until the 7th and the 14th days in 4 rabbits. The inoculated germ was re-isolated from these lesions. Significant hypoalbuminemia and hyperglobulinemiawere noticed on day 14 whereas alpha_2-, beta_1; and beta_2-globulin fractions were significantly increased from the 2nd to the 7th days after inoculation compared to the basal values. The simultaneous determination of the blood protein fractions may help to characterize the inflammation intensity in obese rabbits with experimental staphylococcal infection.