A. Fundamental investigation of bacterial L-form:
1. Two kinds of media which make it possible to isolate L-form of E. coli, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Enterococcus or Staphylococcus at a high rate have been devised by improving the conventional media for L-form; first the concentration of sodium chloride was adjusted as to the problem of osmotic pressure of L-form, and next when some drugs to inhibit synthesis of bacterial cell walls were utilized essential amino acids were applied in combination with the drugs. 2. A new method to obtain rapidly L-form in comparison with an addition of penicillin has been designed by adding lysozyme in amounts of 0.1-3mg/ml to the medium in vitro. 3. The method to isolate and detect L-form from urine, tissue and secretions has been established.
B. Clinical investigation of bacterial L-form:
1. Among 313 urinalyses which were made in 114 cases of pyelonephritis and doubtful pyelonephritis, L-form could be detected in 118 examinations (the detection rate 37.70%). The cases that repetitive urinalysis in the same patient revealed L-form more than 3 times were 27 of them and the detection rate in this situation was 23.68%. No L-form could be observed in 897 urinalyses which were performed in 359 cases of various diseases except pyelonephritis.
2. In 3 of 8 patients with pyelonephritis, L-form could be demonstrated from renal tissues which were obtained by kidney biopsy. None of the biopsy specimens showed L-form when they were obtained from 147 cases of other diseases and examined with 405 times of cuture.
3. L-form could not once be detected in 174 cultures of prostate, urethral and vaginal secretions.
4. Survey of 27 patients with pyelonephritis who revealed L-form with the aid of an incubation: i) Seven cases demonstrated 3 A L-type colony, and 23 cases 3 B L-type colony. ii) Most of the patients were followed by the reduction in ability to concentrate urine, iii) No particular interrelationship could be observed among nonprotein nitrogen, creatinine and urea nitrogen. IV) The loss of the ability to hold sodium was observed in 23.1%, whereas K content was normally low value. v) Quantitative cultivation of urinary bacteria in 193 specimens revealed that 68 specimens (33.23%) showed bacteria more than 10
5, and 11 (5.67%) presented L-form not less than 3 times. In 7 of 41 specimens which showed 10-10
4 bacteria no L-form could be detected even by 3 times of examinations. In 79 germ-free urine specimens, 43 (54.43%) showed L-form once and 9 (11.39%) showed it 3 times by cultivation. vi) Osmotic pressure of urine was 400-500mOsm/kg H
2O in most 19 cases, and the lowest value was 230mOsm/kg H
2O. vii) The pH of urine ranged from the lowest 5.0 to the highest 7.3 and the majority were slightly acid as about 6. viii) The number of leucocytes in urine was over 10 in 9 specimens, 5 to 10 in 18 specimens, less than 5 in 7 specimens and 0 in 3 specimens. ix) Pale cells were observed in 21 cases, dark cells in 3 cases, and glitter cells in 14 cases (66.6%) x) Most of the patients had been treated with cephalosporin group or AB-PC group previous to occurrence of pyelonephritis. It was found out from the sensitivity test that exciters of pyelonephritis had frequently gained tolerance to the drugs capable of inhibiting bacterial cell wall synthesis such as PC, AB-PC, CER, CET, etc. xi) As the past illness of higher rank, pyelonephritis was recognized in 15 cases (55.5%) and artificial interruption of pregnancy in 13 cases (48.1%). xii) Basic disease was most frequently renal ptosis, and, next, passage disturbance of the urinary tract such as prostate cancer, urinary calculi, urethral caruncula, etc. xiii) In the examination of the sensitivity of 7 strains of 3 A L-type colony to antibiotics, EM, in general, showed higher sensitivity although there was little fluctuation in sensitivity due to strain difference. xiv) It was of interest that there were two cas
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