Diethylstilbestrol: A Suppressor of Induced Furunculosis in Rabbits

Available data indicate that the administration of partially purified female sex hormones increased the resistance of mice to induced pneumococcic infection,' or anthrax infection.! Investigations related to the effect of diethylstilbestrol on induced furunculosis in rabbits are lacking. Dressel and Kellere demonstrated that natural and acquired antibody formation may be increased during pregnancy and they pointed out that the peak production of bactericidal substances against anthrax bacilli occurred when estrogenic hormones were most concentrated, that is, in the last few weeks of pregnancy. Since it is known that the susceptibility of the host to microbial infection may be influenced by the secretions of the endocrine system it was felt that injections of diethylstilbestrol into a suitable experimental animal with a subsequent study of the establishment and evolution of staphylococcal infection would give useful information on the role of a given estrogen in infection and resistance to staphylococci.