Increment of enterobacterial common antigens in organ extracts from immunosuppressed mice.

This article describes the enterobacterial common antigen (ECA) content in the liver and spleen extracts from immunosuppressed two months old CFW mice which received a single dose (400 mg/kg body weight) of cyclophosphamide (CY). A complement fixation inhibition assay was used to measure the tissular concentration of ECA. The results showed that liver and spleen ethanol-soluble extracts from immunosuppressed mice had a greater quantity of ECA than those obtained from healthy mice (p < 0.001). Previous works have proven that ECA is a hapten shared by almost all Gram-negative bacteria, and CY is an alkylating agent useful to induce bacterial translocation. Therefore, the increments observed in tissular ECA concentration may indicate the extension of the enterobacterial dissemination from intestine to abdominal organs in CY-treated immunosuppressed mice.