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Growth of Bacteroides fragilis and Escherichia coli was monitored during early stages of single (mono-) and mixed intra-abdominal infection in a rat fibrin clot model. When B. fragilis and E. coli were together involved in the infection, B. fragilis numbers increased about 6h after an initial decline. This increase was not found with B. fragilis mono-infections. The numbers of E. coli increased rapidly in both mono- and mixed infections and stayed high for several days, but only mixed infection resulted in abscesses that persisted for more than 7 days. Macrophages, the main component of the peritoneal cellular defence mechanism, were outnumbered by polymorphonuclear leucocytes during the first 6 h of infection. Further characterisation of the macrophage population by means of monoclonal antibodies showed a shift from resident to exudate macrophages as the result of influx of the latter.
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