We examined the temporal development and the fading in Sprague Dawley rats, actively sensitized to ovalbumin (OA), of the capacity of serosal mast cells, chopped lung tissue, and occasionally chopped tracheal tissue, to respond at antigen challenge in vitro with histamine release. Response capacity of both serosal mast cells and lung tissue developed within 2–3 weeks after injection of 1 μg OA or more together with 100 mg of alum. Maximum response capacity was observed in cells and tissue from animals injected with 10 μg OA, part of the response capacity then remained until 3 months after immunization. Development of serosal mast cell reactivity was occasionally dissociated from that of lung tissue. When low amounts of alum (1 or 10 mg) were employed as adjuvant, lung tissue reactivity could be induced in the virtual absence of serosal mast cell response capacity. Silica gel was less efficient than alum as an adjuvant for induction of a primary response, but ‘secondary’ tissue responses could be induced when silica gel was used as an adjuvant. Pretreatment of the animals with cyclophosphamide before the booster injection enhanced and prolonged the response capacity of lung tissue. Animals injected with OA together with Freund’s complete adjuvant did not provide responding serosal mast cells; response capacity of lung tissue varied with immunization dose of antigen. Antigen-induced histamine release from chopped tracheal tissue did not correlate to response capacity of lung tissue. Thus, the development in the rat of response capacity with respect to antigen-induced histamine release dissociates for serosal mast cells, lung tissue, and tracheal tissue.

Rats of the Brown Norway (BN)2, Fischer, PVG and Sprague Dawley (SD) strains were immunized intraperitoneally with graded doses of ovalbumin (OA) together with either alum or Silica gel. At specified times after immunization, in vitro histamine release from serosal mast cells and from chopped lung and tracheal tissue was determined after challenge with OA. The development of the capacity to respond in these tests seemed to vary within strain independently for mast cells, lung, and tracheal tissue with immunization dose of antigen and nature of adjuvant. These variations were not closely correlated to observed variations in serum levels of OA-IgE antibody or ratio OA-IgE to total IgE as determined by radioimmunoassay. Furthermore, variations between strains in response capacity did not correlate to inter strain variation in median serum OA-IgE antibody level. These results do not clearly conform to the possibility that one single class of IgE mediates anaphylactic reactivity of various tissues of the rat.

Serum dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity was estimated in groups of normals and of psychiatric patients, using a thin layer radiochromatographic method. The percentage of patients with schizophrenic and with depressive symptomatology was higher in the population with high enzyme activities. In addition, d-amphetamine given to normals caused an increase in the serum activity while haloperidol caused the opposite effect. The activity in serum is interpreted as a loss in the enzyme from the place it acts physiologically, with possible influence on the noradrenaline synthesis rate.

PVG rats given injections of 1 microgram ovalbumin (OA) together with 10 mg Silica gel failed to provide serosal mast cells or lung tissue with the capacity to release histamine on in vitro challenge with the antigen. However, if such animals were injected i.p. with 100 mg of alum (without any further antigen addition) 3-9 weeks after the primary antigen injection, their mast cells and lung tissue showed a clear-cut capacity to respond in vitro, when examined 1 week after the alum injection. Injection of only 15 mg alum did not induce such a response capacity. The fading of the reactivity induced by an alum injection could be prevented by a repeated injection of the adjuvant alone. Pretreatment of the rats with cyclophosphamide (33 mg/kg) 2 days before the primary antigen injection did not affect the response capacity induced by a booster injection 3 weeks later. S.c. injection of alum also precipitated response capacity in animals primed by i.p. injection of antigen and Silica gel. The anaphylactic response capacity induced by injection(s) of alum was generally accompanied by increased levels of OA-IgE and especially OA-IgG2a antibody; however, a clear-cut correlation between either serosal mast cell or lung tissue response capacity and serum OA-IgE or IgG2a antibody titer could not be demonstrated. These data show that in primed animals, which do not express allergic response capacity, such a capacity can be induced by injecting adjuvant alone, even several weeks after the primary antigen injection.

A method for the estimation of dopamine /J-hydroxylase activity in human serum is described, based on a thin layer Chromatographie separation of the substrate ([ 14 C]tyramine) from the reaction product ([ 14 C]octopamine). The basic properties of the human serum enzyme, investigated by this method are described. Dopamin-ß-hydroxylase im Serum: Bestimmung und Eigenscliaften Zusammenfassung: Eine Methode zur Bestimmung der Dopamin-j3-hydroxylase in Serum wird beschrieben. Das Substrat, [ 14 C]Tyramin, wird dünnschichtchromatographisch vom Produkt, [ 14 C]Octopamin, getrennt. Die Auswertung erfolgt durch einen Dünnschichtchromatographie-Scanner. Die mit dieser Methode untersuchten Eigenschaften des Enzyms werden beschrieben.