Biological Effects of Leptospiral Lipids

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Abstract
Lipids extracted from virulent Leptospira pomona were purified. These lipids fixed complement in the presence of antiserum to L. pomona but did not stimulate the production of homologous agglutinins in rabbits, mice or hamsters. When subsequently challenged, all of the mice and hamsters were fully susceptible to L. pomona. The lipid material was neither dermonecrotic nor lethal for mice or hamsters, but 382 [mu]g of lipid from virulent or avirulent leptospires inhibited the growth of normal mice. Leptospiral lipids were toxic for peritoneal macrophages maintained in vitro, and the lipids hastened death of the hamsters presumably by inhibiting phagocytosis early in the course of the infection when administered simultaneously with a million lethal doses of L. pomona.

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