Whole egg yolk incorporated as a supplement in the diet of baby guinea pigs afforded protection against anaphylactic arthritis as determined: (a) by measurement of joint swelling; (b) by the rise in serum level of some substance which reacts with diphenylamine; (c) by histologic examination. The active material in egg yolk was shown to be in the alcohol-soluble fraction. Attempts to identify the active material with any known lipid have to date been unsuccessful. In the screening of lipid substances for protection against anaphylactic arthritis, it is shown that the weanling guinea pig is suitable, that a 3 week period is adequate, and that the test substance can be administered satisfactorily in the diet.

No abstract

The authors have reported ( 1 ) certain biological characteristics of strains of hemolytic streptococcus associated with pharyngeal infection, which appeared to reactivate the rheumatic process in individuals previously stigmatized with the disease. These organisms were in most instances Streptococcus pyogenes, according to Holman's classification; they produced skin toxin neutralizable by antiscarlatinal serum; they fell into six serological groups, and were indistinguishable from strains obtained from upper respiratory tract infection of non-rheumatic subjects. These studies also indicated that in many instances, perhaps 20 to 40 per cent, hemolytic streptococcus infection in individuals recognized to be rheumatic subjects is not followed by any clinical evidence of rheumatic activity. The failure of these patients to develop recrudescences suggested at least two possibilities: one, ineffectiveness of the strain; two, a refractory state of the host. The purpose of the present study was to determine, so far as possible with methods available, whether there are any demonstrable differences between those pathogenic agents which are effective and those which are non-effective in reactivating the rheumatic process.Forty strains collected from 38 individuals comprise the material for the present study. These organisms were selected from individuals who had had at least one attack of rheumatic fever, who had been under close observation for a period of two to six years, who did not appear to be carriers of hemolytic streptococcus, who had been free of all clinical evidence of rheumatic activity for at least six months, and who con- ' The work reported in this communication was carried out under The W. K. Kellogg Foundation. tracted, while being studied, a frank pharyngitis associated with the appearance of hemolytic streptococcus predominating in the throat flora. All of these infections occurred in the winter or spring months,2 and the possibility of a rheumatic recrudescence was expected in each instance. Half of the individuals developed severe attacks of rheumatic fever. The organisms isolated from these patients at the time of pharyngitis are considered effective and are designated " E." In the other half, the rheumatic process appeared to remain quiescent, insofar as it was possible to determine with the methods now available.3 The organisms isolated from the latter patients at the time of pharyngitis 4 were considered ineffective in initiating rheumatic activity and are designated "NE."y One of the first possible reasons to consider for the ineffectiveness of certain strains was that they might be of animal origin. Animal strains, as Lancefield (2) has demonstrated, show good 2The authors have observed that in New York City the hemolytic streptococcus throat infections occurring in the spring months have been more effective in initiating rheumatic activity than those in other seasons. A study of the toxin production of thirty strains of hemolytic streptococcus showed that of seven strains associated with f...

No abstract

No abstract