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Robert D. Arbeit, Mitchell J. Nelles, Capsular Polysaccharide Antigenemia in Rats with Experimental Endocarditis Due to Staphylococcus aureus, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 155, Issue 2, February 1987, Pages 242–246, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/155.2.242
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Abstract
In vivo expression of the type 8 capsular polysaccharide (CP) of Staphylococcus aureus was studied in the rat model of aortic valve endocarditis. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with monoclonal antibodies to type 8 CP was sensitive to 0.16 ng/ml in serum. All (23 of 23) animals infected with the prototype type 8 strain Becker had CP detected in one or more serum samples. Peak CP levels ranged from 0.16 to 240 ng/ml (median, 25 ng/ml). Among the 14 rats alive on day 2, antigenemia and bacteremia were significantly correlated (r = .71, P < .005). CP was also present in serum of rats infected with three additional type 8 bacteremic isolates. All serum samples from animals infected with the type 5 prototype strain were negative in the type 8 ELISA. These studies document that the type 8 CP of S. aureus, previously identified only in vitro, is produced and released during in vivo infection and can be detected in serum of infected animals.