Antigen analysis of Staphylococcus aureus strains sensitive and resistant to antibiotics.

The analysis of the antigens produced by the disintegration of Staphylococcus aureus (Wood 46, 211, 223 strains) bacteria treated with antibiotics was carried out by the authors with immunochemical methods. It appears from the analyses strikingly that established resistance produces changes in the antigenic structure. This is manifest in the number of the antigen-antibody systems and, within the multiple system, in the character of certain antigens. The decrease in the number of the precipitogens is considerable. In the case of all the three strains, the presence of an antigen band was shown which is identical in the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but is not to be found in the antigens of the corresponding antibiotic-sensitive bacteria. The authors' experience shows that one possibility of approaching the problem of antibiotic resistance is to clarify with immunochemical methods the differences found in the protein spectra of the antibiotic-resistant varieties.