Tri-butoxyethyl phosphate as a contaminant in B-D Vacutainers.

An unknown compound was extracted from serum samples. The compound was studied by gas-liquid chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, and mass spectrometry, and was positively identified as tri-butoxyethyl phosphate. The source of this compound was traced to B-D Vacutainers used to collect blood. The importance of this finding is briefly pointed out.

Use of stable, sensitized cells in indirect micro hemagglutination test for amebiasis.

Human "O" cells were fixed with pyruvic aldehyde, treated with tannic acid, and fixed with glutaraldehyde. The cells were sensitized with amoeba antigen and stored in a refrigerator. The sensitized cells were used periodically for the indirect hemagglutination test with a battery of sera from patients with intestinal amebiasis and confirmed and unconfirmed amebic liver abscess, and also from negative controls. The same battery was tested with cells sensitized with different batches of antigen and also with fresh sheep cells. None of the cells showed any reaction with negative control sera. The fixed cells remained sensitive and stable throughout the study. Reproducibility of the titers with the fixed cells within each day and from day to day was satisfactory. The titers with fixed human "O" cells were slightly lower than were the titers with fresh sheep cells. The advantages of using stable, sensitized cells are pointed out.

Use of stable sensitized cells in an improved indirect microhemagglutination test for malaria.

Aldehyde-fixed cells sensitized with Plasmodium knowlesi and P. falciparum antigens were tested with sera from P. vivax and P. falciparum infections. Titers were improved by use of a mixture of cells sensitized with the two antigens.

Purified protoplasmic peptides of mycobacteria: chemical composition of a tuberculin-active glycopeptide.

A tuberculin-active glycopeptide containing eight different amino acids and glucose was isolated from the protoplasm of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A molecular weight of 4,000 to 5,000 was established by Sephadex gel filtration; other analyses showed a peptide to carbohydrate ratio of 9:1. These observations suggest a tentative composition of 3 to 4 residues of glucose, 12 residues each of aspartic and glutamic acids, 3 residues each of lysine, glycine, and serine, and 1 residue each of arginine, threonine, and alanine.

Cellular fatty acids of pathogenic Neisseria.

The cellular fatty acid composition of 20 isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and 21 isolates of N. meningitidis was examined by gas-liquid chromatography. Each isolate of the two species possessed similar fatty acid profiles which were characterized by five major acids, accounting for 80 to 85% of the total. The three most abundant acids in each species were palmitic, palmitoleic, and beta-hydroxylauric acids; lauric and myristic acids were the next most abundant. The presence of large amounts of beta-hydroxylauric acid (20% or greater) and the relative concentrations of the other four major acids appear to be useful markers for distinguishing N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis fatty acids from those of other bacteria.

Characterization of clostridia by gas chromatography differentiation of species by trimethylsilyl derivatives of whole-cell hydrolysates.

Trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives prepared from whole-cell hydrolysates of 36 strains, representing 10 species of Clostridium were examined by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). The TMS profile of each species contained a group of peaks which characterized the species. Variation among strains within a species was much lower than variation between species. Some of the closely related clostridia could be differentiated by comparing their TMS profiles. Strains of Clostridium botulinum were distinguished from C. sporogenes on the basis of the ratio of two GLC peaks which corresponded to arabinose and glucose. A peak with a retention time identical to that of mannose was present in all C. bifermentans strains but was absent in those of C. sordellii.