| Popis: |
Pathogenic bacteria that cause generalized infections or meningitis invade the blood stream and are thereby distributed throughout the body. Blood, or serum, contains a number of nonspecific (complement, lysozyme, phagocytes, iron-binding proteins, etc.) and specific (antibodies, lymphocytes) agents that alone or in combination lyse, kill or prevent the growth of the majority of bacteria with which they make contact. Abilities to resist, evade or inactivate these host defences constitute major components of the virulence of invasive bacteria. At present little is known about these bacterial properties or their molecular interactions with host defences. |
