A suggested mechanism for the pathogenesis of infectious atrophic rhinitis

Boivin extracts of Bordetella bronchiseptica inhibited or uncoupled the energized processes of bovine heart and pig heart mitochondria. Energy-dependent accumulation of calcium phosphate by both types of mitochondria was markedly inhibited by the extracts. The thesis is advanced that Boivin extracts of B. bronchiseptica may contain the membrane-damaging component responsible for infectious atrophic rhinitis. The action of the extracts was decreased by heat but seemed rather insensitive to digestion by trypsin or extraction by lipid solvents. Attempts to resolve the active component from the extracts were unsuccessful.