Abstract:
Streptolysin S (SLS) produced by group A Streptococcus (GAS) is very potent membrane-damaging agent and lyses a wide variety of living cells and organelles. This study is about the comparison between the relative sensitivity of sheep red blood cells (haemolytic assay) and that of rabbit peritoneal neutrophils (chemiluminescence assay) towards the purified SLS. Purified SLS, at concentrations of between 8000 HU/ml and 256 HU/ml, when added directly to FMLP-induced rabbit PMNs, caused inhibition of the PMNs chemiluminescence response. This study concludes that on a cell basis, sheep red blood cells are 1.2x105 fold more sensitive to SLS than PMNs.
