Arthritogenicity in rats of cell walls from several streptococci staphylococci and two other bacteria

Bacterial cell walls from Str. bovis, Str. lactis, Str. mutans, Str. thermophilus, Str. salivarius, and Str. pyogenes were able to produce polyarthritis in rats but Str. faecalis cell walls were nonarthritogenic. S. aureus cell walls produced extremely severe disease. It was also shown that cell walls from S. epidermidis, B. megaterium, and M. lysodeikticus were nonarthritogenic. A close correlation was observed between development of arthritis and the delayed hypersensitivity to bacterial peptidoglycans but not with the PPD hypersensitivity. It was suggested that the adjuvanticity of bacterial cell walls is needed to induce the disease and that arthritogenicity requires a specific antigen in addition to the presence of an adjuvant-inducing agent.