[Selective deficiencies of phagocytosis and opsonization towards Staphylococcus aureus. 1. Preliminary study in...

We studied simultaneously the bactericidal activity (BA) and the serum opsonic capacity (OC) towards S. aureus and Escherichia coli during 2 hours of phagocytosis in vitro. The PMNs and the sera from 17 seriously ill patients and from 10 normal individuals were tested. Both BA and OC towards E. coli were the same for all patients and controls. The BA for one patient and the OC for three other patients were found to be diminished significantly. The last three patients had infectious complications due to S. aureus only. The selective deficiency of OC towards S. aureus in these three patients may be connected with the pathogenesis of their infectious complications.