Particulate and Soluble Antigens of Rickettsia Tsutsugamushi in the Complement Fixation Test

Abstract
Particulate (P) and soluble (S) antigens of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi for complement fixation were prepared from HeLa cell cultures infected with the Kato, Karp and Gilliam strains. The P antigens of the three strains were found to be type-specific, and the S antigens to be group-specific. The antigens were separated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, the density (g/ml) of the former being 1.13 to 1.15 and that of the latter 1.06 to 1.08. In animals infected with R. tsutsugamushi, antibody against P antigen was produced earlier and persisted longer in higher titer than that against S antigen. The antigenic structure of R. tsutsugamushi was discussed.