A comparison of the activities antiseptics on bacteria and on leucocytes

Abstract

Many experiments have indicated that the chemical antiseptics in common use, in addition to combining with the bacterial protoplasm and so producing death of the bacterium, will also enter into combination with other albuminous matter and are, in fact, general protoplasmic poisons. The relative toxicities of these antiseptics to bacteria and to the cells of the body have to a certain extent been investigated, for instance, many experiments have been done on their inhibitory action on the phagocytosis of bacteria by leucocytes. It has been shown, however, that apart from phagocytosis the leucocytes have a powerful lethal action on bacteria, and little or no work has been published on the effect of these chemicals on the actual bactericidal power of leucocytes.