BIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITIES OF LIPID COMPONENTS OF LEPTOSPIRA-INTERROGANS SEROVAR COPENHAGENI AVIRULENT STRAIN SHIBAURA

The gas chromatogram showed that the polar lipids (PL) extracted from Leptospira interrogans serovar copenhageni avirulent strain Shibaura consisted mainly of palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, and oleic acid, and that the free fatty acids (FFA) from the strain contained oleic acid at a concentration as high as 67.5%. The intracutaneous injection of FFA induced much stronger edematous and vascular permeability reactions in guinea pigs than did that of PL. In addition, O2- generation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in vitro was enhanced with FFA to much greater extent than with PL. Among the FFA, oleic acid caused the strongest biological activities such as edematous reaction, vascular permeability reaction, O2--generating activity, and hemolytic activity. It is, therefore, very likely that oleic acid may play an important role in toxicities of leptospiral lipids. © 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.