Influence of iron on Corynebacterium renale-induced pyelonephritis in a rat experimental model

Abstract
Growth of C. renale in vitro on low-Fe medium (1.34 .mu.M) was only slightly less than that on high-Fe media (7.16 and 9.85 .mu.M). Studies on C. renale-induced pyelonephritis using the rat as an experimental model revealed that C. renale cultivated in high-Fe media was capable of producing pyelonephritis, but when grown on low-Fe medium, these bacteria were noninfective. This apparent avirulence of the bacteria cultivated on low levels of Fe could be reversed by injecting the rats with ferric ammonium citrate.