RESUMEN
In an attempt to ascertain whether cell-mediated hypersensitivity develops in the course of a naturally acquired gonorrhea infection, lymphocytes from men with gonococcal urethritis were cultured in vitro with a gonococcal antigen. The lymphocyte response was quantitated by a radioactive assay of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis. Lymphocytes from subjects without gonorrhea were cultured in a similar manner to determine the specificity of the reaction. The recurrent nature of many gonococcal infections allowed a concurrent evaluation of whether the intensity of the in vitro lymphocyte response is related to the history of previous exposure to the antigen concerned. This study revealed a significantly greater lymphocyte response to the gonococcal antigen in those with gonorrhea infections than in the nongonorrhea subjects (P < 0.01). The intensity and timing of the response were also consistent with specific lymphocyte stimulation.
RESUMEN
Growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae from clinical specimens has been enhanced by the use of selective media that inhibit the simultaneous growth of other microorganisms. One explanation for this enhancement could be that certain other bacteria inhibit gonococcal growth. This hypothesis was examined by testing 167 bacterial isolates for in vitro gonococcal inhibition; 34.1% of the isolates failed to inhibit the gonococcus, but 12.0% produced weak inhibition and 53.9% strongly inhibited N. gonorrhoeae. The pattern of in vitro gonococcal inhibition was consistently the same for all the individual isolates within some species, but individual isolates within other bacterial species varied in their ability to inhibit the gonococcus. Consistently strong in vitro N. gonorrhoeae inhibitors were Citrobacter diversus, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, and Pseudomonas. The in vivo significance of gonococcal interference was demonstrated in the subcutaneous chamber model of N. gonorrhoeae infection.