Experimental syphilitic orchitis. Relationship between Treponema pallidum infection and testis synthesis of proteoglycans

Abstract

The relationship between Treponema pallidum infection and the synthesis of proteoglycans by organ cultures of rabbit testes was investigated. Two proteoglycan fractions, large (CL-6B K(av) 0.05) and small (K(av) 0.25), that were not synthesized at detectable levels by cultures from rabbits infected with T. pallidum for 0 to 5 days, were produced by cultures from 10-, 15- and 20-day infected rabbits. The small proteoglycan appeared to be synthesized first because greater amounts of this fraction were detected in extracts of cultures from 10-day infected animals. The large proteoglycan fraction may have been induced directly by T. pallidum because increased synthesis correlated with maximal tr..