Further Studies on Bacterial Hypersusceptibility. Ii

Abstract

The work reported in this paper is a direct continuation of studies begun several years ago andpublishedinpart in a preceding communication by one of the writers (1), in which it was shown that intradermal and presumably, also, general tuberculin reactions could be distinctly differentiated from true anaphylaxis to tuberculoprotein.As a consequence of the work done at that time, it appeared that in the course of infections with the tubercle bacillus, two distinct varieties of hypersensitiveness may develop. One of these, true anaphylaxis against the protein materials of the bacteria, occurs late in prolonged infections, not sooner than 3 weeks after first lodgment of the living bacteria in the body. This form of hypersusceptibility is analogous to such phenomena as horse serum and other protein anaphylaxis and expresses itself in generalized hypersusceptibility, in the uterine phenomena of Dale, and, as far as the skin is concerned, in the rapid, urticaria-like, evanescent skin reactions so familiar to all physicians who have tested pneumonia patients for horse serum hypersusceptibility by intradermal injections. The other, the tuberculin reaction, occurs much earlier, appearing in tuberculous animals within 8 or 9 days after a massive injection of living bacilli, thus developing several weeks before the anaphylactic reaction appears, and is associated with a skin reaction slower in development and accompanied by deeper pathological injury and slower healing. This reaction, analogous apparently in every way to the so called typhoidin, mallein, abortin, and similar reactions, can be elicited in the infected animal by injection with a residue of tubercle bacillus extract from which all proteins have been removed as far as this can be done by the usual methods of precipitation with acid and boiling in an acid reaction. Moreover, whereas true protein anaphylaxis can be induced in the animals by repeated injections of whole dead bacteria or bacterial extracts, the latter type, or the tuberculin type of reaction, occurs only in animals actually infected with the living organisms, an important point previously observed by Rmer (2), Baldwin (3), Krause (4), and others. 275

Complement Activity in Pneumonia 1

“…This differs from the results obtained in vitro by Zinsser and Parker (26), and confirmed with purified specific polysaccharides by Goodner and Horsfall (27), showing that antipneumococcus rabbit serum "under proper conditions" after union with pneumococcus antigen will fix complement, whereas antipneumococcus horse serum under the same circumstances will not do so. The decreases in complement activity following serum administration may possibly explain the occasional failure of huge amounts of antipneumococcus serum to control the disease in certain patients.…”

Studies on Meningococcus Infection

“…The specimen of Type III antiserum used in this experiment had the highest titre of any rabbit monovalent serum prepared up to the time the experiment was carried out. 8 The Type I specific substance precipitates readily with some specimens of polyvalent antimeningococcal horse serum. The titre reached is often higher than that obtained with the homologous monovalent rabbit serum.…”

“…The earlier investigators showed that alkaline extracts of the meningococcus contain precipitinogens which react with both antimeningococcus serum and the serum prepared against others of the Gram-negative cocci (4)(5)(6); that the antisera contain both species-specific precipitins which can be removed only by the homologous organism or its extract, and group precipitins which can be removed by any of the organisms or their extracts (5,6), and finally, that there is evidence of the presence of type-specific precipitinogens as contrasted with those which are only speciesspecific and common to all the meningococcus types (7). In the later period, commencing with the work of Zinsser and Parker (8), endeavors have been made to isolate and identify the different fractions of the meningococcus extract which are responsible for the varying reactions observed. It has been shown that precipitation with 10 per cent acetic acid will give a nucleoprotein fraction which is species-specific (2, 10), while precipitation with ethyl alcohol gives at least two fractions of which one is type-specific (2, 9) while the other is related to similar substances present in and obtained from other microorganisms, especially those of the Gram-negative coccus group (2,10,11).…”

A Specific Flocculation Reaction Occurring Between Alcoholic Extracts of Pneumococci and Antipneumococcus Serum

“…On the other hand, Zinsser and his associates (11)(12)(13)(14) have prepared, from various bacteria, including also the pneumococcus, substances--residue antigens--which are free from coagulable protein and are capable of reacting specifically in a precipitin test with the homologous antiserum. Both of these substances, the polysaccharide of Avery and Heidelberger and the residue antigen of Zinsser, were found by the respective authors to be incapable of producing antibodies.…”