Bacteriologic investigations of the oral spirochetal flora in ulcerative stomatitis (Vincent's infection)

A method was presented for routine isolation and cultivation of certain of the oral spirochetes associated with lesions in cases of ulcerative stomatitis. The technique was based primarily upon the use of a-well for holding the spirochetel-containing inoculum in the confines of a highly nutritious medium of low agar concentration, which favors rapid multiplication and penetration of the medium by the spirochetes. Numerous strains of the smaller oral treponemes and three strains of Bor. vincenti were obtained by this method.

Agglutination studies were undertaken. Media and techniques were devised both for mass cultivation of organisms for intravenous inoculation of rabbits and for use as antigen in performing microscopic agglutination reactions. Strains of T. pallidunt and various strains of the oral spirochetes were shown to be highly antigenic. The agglutination titres of immune serums of rabbits when tested against homologous strains of spirochetes ranged between 1: 1,000 and 1: 1,000,000.