Studies on Rickettsia tsutsugamushi Ⅰ: Experiments on the Purification of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi

In the present experiments, Mitani and Tanizawa strains, which had been isolated in Kagawa Prefecture, were used. Rickettsiae of each strain were purified with kaolin and bentonite. The results were as follows: 1) In the purification of rickettsiae with kaolin, the adsorption on kaolin at pH 5.0 and the dissociation at pH 7.2 gave the purified rickettsiae in the largestest quantity, and thus purified rickettsiae showed a high antigenicity in the complement fixation test. 2) In the purification with bentonite, the adsorption at pH 4.5 and the dissociation at pH 7.2 gave the purified rickettsiae in the richest amount, and the purified rickettsiae thus obtained showed a high antigenicity in the complement fixation test.