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The data reported here demonstrate that a preparation extracted from nonpathogenic mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and hereafter referred to as interphase material protected mice against Ehrlich ascitic carcinoma, L-1210 leukemia, and another syngeneic lymphoid leukemia. Furthermore, mice treated by this preparation were much less susceptible to endotoxins than when stimulated by BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guerin) or M. smegmatis cells. Moreover, guinea pigs treated by interphase material administered in Freund's incomplete adjuvant showed an increased immune response, yet their sensitivity to tuberculin was much weaker than that of controls sensitized with Freund's complete adjuvant.Finally, resistance to Columbia SK virus infection could be demonstrated when interphase material was administered to mice prior to virus challenge.It is now well established that mycobacteria have the ability to stimulate the immunity of the host against tumors (1-2). However, these organisms have also the capacity for rendering mice very susceptible to endotoxins (13) and for inducing delayed hypersensitivity to tuberculin. Our previous studies have shown that delipidated cells as well as purified cell walls of Mycobacterium smegmatis or M. kansasii had greater antitumor activity than killed cells of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), although they were devoid of several of the noxious effects of whole mycobacterial cells (14).In the following study various biological activities of a preparation extracted from nonpathogenic mycobacteria and hereafter referred to as interphase material (IPM) the press with cooling. The resulting homogenate was centrifuged for 90 min at 5000 X g, yielding a multiphase system consisting of a lower cell debris layer, a lower opaque aqueous layer and an upper hexane layer containing a sedimented gelatinous phase. The aqueous phase was withdrawn from the system by aspiration and discarded. The hexane phase containing the gelatinous sediment was decanted and centrifuged at 10,000 X g for 1 hr. The gelatinous material was separated from the hexane by decantation, suspended in distilled water, and the suspension was freed from residual hexane by heating to about 380 under reduced pressure. The aqueous suspension was freeze-dried to yield 29.0 g of a fluffy, light colored amorphous solid hereafter referred to as M. smegmatis interphase material (IPM). A similar procedure was used for obtaining interphase material from M. phlei and M. kansasii.M. smegmatis IPM is insoluble in neutral aqueous systems and only partly soluble in organic solvents. It is characterized by the following elemental analysis: C, 51-57%; H, 7.5-8.7%; N, 5.8-6.5%; P, 0.5-1.2% and by the following composition: neutral carbohydrates (arabinose, galactose, glucose), 21-23%; amino sugars, 0.8-1.8%; amino acids (as peptides or proteins), 24-28%; free lipids, 40-43%. These data as well as the presence of a,a'-diaminopimelic acid and approximately equimolar amounts of glucosamine and muramic acid indicate that IPM is essentially...

Summary The radioallergosorbent test was compared with currently accepted allergy diagnostic techniques in seventy‐four controls and 120 patients with a clinical history of allergy to house dust and Dermatophagoïdes pteronyssinus. The results obtained with D. pteronyssinus allergen extract show a close correlation between the size of the cutaneous reactions and the serum level of allergen‐specific IgE. On the other hand, highly positive skin tests to house dust were not always correlated with a positive RAST response for house dust. Similar results were found with inhalation tests. When a purified D. pteronyssinus extract was used, a stronger relationship was observed between RAST, cutaneous and inhalation tests. It can be assumed that RAST for house dust is not of value in patients with house dust and mite allergy. Our findings indicate that the correlations between RAST results and other in vivo test results depend on the purity of the allergen extracts and the selection of patients.

Digestion by lysozyme of delipidated cells of Mycobacterium smegmatis liberates a water-soluble immunoadjuvant fraction which is chemically very similar to the water-soluble adjuvant (WSA) obtained previously from purified cell walls, but which contains somewhat more non-peptidoglycan amino acids. The yield of peptidoglycan-arabinogalactan complex is about 10 times greater starting from whole cells than from cell walls. The main biological properties of this “neo-WSA” are described: it increases circulating antibodies to ovalbumin in guinea pigs, it does not produce polyarthritis in rats or induce hypersensitivity to tuberculin, it does not increase susceptibility to histamine or hyperreactivity to endotoxin, and does not produce spleen and liver hypertrophy. Analogous immunostimulant fractions have also been obtained from delipidated cells of Nocardia opaca by lysozyme treatment.