Enhanced susceptibility of male rabbits to infection with a toxic shock strain of Staphylococcus aureus.

Artificial infection chambers in rabbits were infected with a toxic shock strain of Staphylococcus aureus in an attempt to determine the nature of the enhanced virulence of toxic shock strains relative to non-toxic shock strains of staphylococci. The results showed that rabbits immunized with either neutral or acidic proteins were protected from the lethal effects of these infections. Male rabbits were found to be significantly more susceptible to these infections than female rabbits. Castration rendered both sexes equally susceptible to lethal infections. Numerous tissues from all infected rabbits were examined histologically, and most of the pathological findings involved lymphoid tissue. Of special interest was the observation that unprotected male rabbits which died had evidence of lymphoid depletion and that surviving rabbits, both male and female, usually manifested lymphoid hyperplasia. No other pathological response was noted which would characterize these infections, but immunized rabbits had a diminished level of thymic cortex involution that was not different between the sexes.