Intensification by Intrauterine Devices of Bactericidal Activity in the Rabbit Uterus1

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Abstract
A plastic spiral (IUD) was inserted by surgery into one uterine horn of each of 78 New Zealand White rabbits; 32 other rabbits were sham-operated as controls. One month later, one uterine horn of each of 76 rabbits was ligated at each end and inoculated with Escherichia coli; 2, 4, or 8 hr later, the uterine horns were flushed and E. coli enumerated. Bactericidal activity was greatly intensified in IUD-bearing uterine horns, both in follicular phase and pseudopregnant rabbits. Uteri of 28 other rabbits were excised and each horn was inoculated and incubated in the body cavity for 2 or 4 hr. The excised uterine horns, whether or not they contained an IUD, were bactericidal only if fresh leukocytes had been induced into the uterine lumen before excision. The results suggest that the increased bactericidal capabilities of intact IUD-bearing horns were due almost entirely to intensified acute responses to the bacteria and not to the cellular debris normally present around the IUD.

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