Failure of Antipneumococcus Horse Serum to Sensitize Guinea Pigs to Anaphylactic Shock with Specific Carbohydrates

Abstract

Previous experiments have demonstrated noteworthy differences in antipneumococcus sera from the horse and from the rabbit. For example, immune horse serum, in striking contrast to immune rabbit serum, intensifies the purpuric activity of the type-I pneumococcus cellular carbohydrate in mice. Also, these 2 sera behave very differently with respect to the fixation of complement in the presence of specific carbohydrates and precipitation in the presence of the partial hydrolysis products of type-Ill soluble specific substance. Finally, marked differences have been reported, in the passive sensitization of the guinea pig to the soluble specific substance by immune horse and rabbit sera; the latter sensitizes, while the former does not. Evidently there are fundamental differences in the action of the sera of the horse and the rabbit immunized with the pneumococcus, concerning which it is important to obtain further information. In the experiments here summarized, type-I antipneumococcus horse serum, alone or in combination, was used as the sensitizing agent and the homologous soluble specific substance or the cellular carbohydrate as the test material for sensitization. The observations of others have been limited to the soluble specific substance, but in these experiments similar results were obtained with both carbohydrates. The sensitizing dose was given to guinea pigs intraperitoneally and the test dose intracardially 24 or 48 hours later. The problem of passive sensitization with antipneumococcus horse serum was considered from the point of view that this serum either lacked a factor necessary for the sensitization of guinea pigs or contained an inhibiting substance.