USE OF THE SYRIAN GOLDEN-HAMSTER FOR THE INDUCTION OF INTRAORAL ABSCESSES BY SUTURES CONTAMINATED WITH HUMAN SUBGINGIVAL PLAQUE

Analysis of normal oral flora in 150 cheek pouches of hamsters (Mesocr icetus auratus) defined the microbial working environment and demonstr ated the absence of human oral black-pigmented bacteria. Silk sutures saturated with Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia or subg ingival plaque were used to close wounds made in hamster's cheek pouch es. Abscesses were formed when sutures had solitary P. gingivalis or o ther bacteria mixed with P. gingivalis or when P. intermedia was mixed with other bacteria besides P. gingivalis. A concentration of black-p igmented bacteria emanating from 3 x 10(5) colony-forming units/inocul um was required for abscess formation. Six abscesses (14.3%) were deve loped in association with the presence of other odontopathic bacteria, primarily Fusobacterium nucleatum and Actinomyces viscosus. The hamst er cheek pouch with iatrogenic wounds closed with plaque-impregnated s utures is a novel and effective model to study the pathology of wound infections and virulence of human subgingival organisms.