Bacteriophyknosis is a morphological manifestation of bacterial death in the organism

Rats were immunized withPseudomonas aeruginosa. A suspension of bacteria of the same strain was mixed with a sufficient amount of serum from the immunized rats to produce agglutination. This bacteria-serum mixture was injected intramuscularly to intact rats. Rapid dissolution of bacteria (during 1–3 h) was noted in the intercellular space, where microbial cells were reduced to pyknomorphic detritus. The formation of detritus from destroyed bacteria was demonstrated by detecting the radioactivity of the detritus in cases where animals were infected with bacteria labeled with tritium. The phenomenon described is a mechanism of bacterial dissolution in the organism differing from phagocytosis and complement-dependent lysis. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 119, N ^o , 6, pp. 665–668, June, 1995 Presented by D. S. Sarkisov, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences