Units Of Antitoxin Research Articles

Serum Sensitization as Related to Dosage of Antitoxin in Man and Animals

The results of a series of tests carried out by Lewis' showed that 2 units of antitoxin contained in 0.05 c.c. of horse serum given one hour previously protected rabbits which received about io fatal doses of diphtheria toxin. Both injections were given intravenously. When rabbits were sensitized by a previous injection of either normal or antitoxic horse serum, several times as much antitoxin was required. The amounts were not graded sufficiently to state the results more accurately. Lewis recognizes that the experiments are limited in number and suggests that the curve of absorption of antitoxin in man as developed by J. Henderson Smith2 be elaborated to cover the case of human beings who have received previous injections of normal or antitoxic horse serum. During the course of our studies upon the influence of protein concentration upon the absorption of antitoxin (see p. 338) we had an opportunity to make observations upon men which have a direct bearing upon this question. Also, further tests of like nature were carried out on goats. The results obtained from our tests have been plotted on charts for ease of comparison.

Aviditat agglutinins. (Preliminary announcement)

Numerous observations have established that immune sera, with an equal content of antitoxin units, can have different therapeutic effects, and serum with a smaller amount of antitoxin will sometimes treat better than serum highly antitoxic.

A Modification of Diphtheria Antitoxin

One of the fundamental features of Ehrlich's method of standardising diphtheria antitoxic serum is the recognition of the so-called Lo and L+ limits, the L+ dose being the quantity of a toxin which when mixed with one unit of antitoxin and injected subcutaneously into a guinea-pig leaves sufficient excess of toxin free to cause the death of the animal about the fifth day after injection, the Lo dose being the largest quantity which when similarly mixed with one unit of antitoxin fails to produce a local reaction. In the region between the two doses, the so-called “ Differential-Region ” of Ehrlich, one can obtain a series of mixtures which, while they kill the guinea-pig later than the fifth day or not at all, cause local reactions of varying severity increasing as the L+ limit is reached.

DYSPNEA AND URTICARIA FOLLOWING INJECTION OF ANTITOXIN IN DIPHTHERIA

<h3>Patient.</h3> —On Sept. 20, 1908, a young man of 28 presented himself complaining of a sore throat and giving the history of exposure to diphtheria three days previously. An examination of the throat showed a typical membrane on the right tonsil, a culture from which gave the Klebs-Loeffler bacillus. Externally the throat was tender to pressure and the cervical lymph glands were enlarged. The patient was nervous; temperature 100 F. and pulse 95. The examination was otherwise negative. <h3>Reaction from Antitoxin.</h3> —At 11:30 a. m. 2000 units of antitoxin were injected in the back with no especial discomfort to the patient. In about ten minutes the patient became restless, the face cyanotic and the respirations difficult. Gradually the respiratory distress became marked, the patient lying in a slightly raised position, with head extended, face cyanotic, expression agonized, nostrils dilated, the body limp and covered with cold sweat—the picture of suffocation.

Toxin-antitoxin mixtures as immunizing agents

Ehrlich early suggested that injections of partially neutralized diphtheria toxin produced active immunity. This was demonstrated by Wernicke, Dreyer and Madsen, Morgenroth, ourselves and others. Smith in a recent article suggested the use of such mixtures in the immunization of children. The possibility of such a practical application has suggested to us some experiments with especial reference to the safety and effectiveness of the injections. The proportion of toxin to antitoxin in the mixture required to produce immunization. — In May, 1903, one of us reported some experiments in which one set of horses were injected with mixtures containing toxin .66 of L+ dose for each unit of antitoxin and another with .66 of L+ for each 4 units of antitoxin. Three large injections produced in the first series an average of 150 units, in the second an average of 3 units in each c.c. of serum.

Is the Present Method of Standardizing Antidiphtheric Serum According to Antitoxin Units Therapeutically Accurate?

Journal Article Is the Present Method of Standardizing Antidiphtheric Serum According to Antitoxin Units Therapeutically Accurate? Get access Edna Steinhardt, Edna Steinhardt From the Research Laboratory of the Department of Health, New York City, William H. Park, M. D., Director Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Edwin J. Banzhaf Edwin J. Banzhaf From the Research Laboratory of the Department of Health, New York City, William H. Park, M. D., Director Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 5, Issue 2, 30 March 1908, Pages 203–213, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/5.2.203 Published: 30 March 1908 Article history Received: 03 March 1908 Published: 30 March 1908

The relative value of antitoxin and other curative substances in antidiphtheric serum

Cruveilhier, in a paper in the Annales de l'Institut Pasteur (XVIII, p. 249), quotes Roux, Marfan, Martin and Momont as finding that the dose of antidiphtheric serum which is most efficacious is not always the one that contains the greatest number of antitoxic units. They assert that in the serum, there are, besides antitoxin, other substances whose therapeutic value is ignored in the present measurement of antitoxic units. Cruveilhier carried out a series of experiments, in animals infected with diphtheria bacilli, and compared sera of different antitoxic strengths from several horses as to their value preventively and curatively. His results apparently showed that it was the quantity of serum rather than the number of units of antitoxin which was efficacious. He drew the following conclusions: The curative effect of the serum does not depend exclusively on the number of antitoxic units present. We have investigated the same subject with results which do not agree with those of the above-named authors. In our experiments we infected the guinea pigs with three different strains of the diphtheria bacillus. We compared sera of the following unit contents: One of 200 units with one of 1000 units; one of 600 units with one of 1300 units; one of 600 units with one of 335 units, also with one of 200 units. The last three sera were obtained from the same horse during the course of immunization. In both the preventive and curative experiments, we were unable to detect any protective substances which are not measured in the present method of standardizing antitoxin. From the results obtained in the comparison of the antitoxic contents of sera we draw the following conclusions:

DIPHTHERIA ANTITOXIN IN THE TREATMENT OF GOITER.

During the summer of 1903 I had occasion to treat a family with diphtheria; one patient died from the laryngeal form after tracheotomy had been performed and large doses of antitoxin had been administered. An aunt acted as a nurse; she had exophthalmic goiter, with all the classic symptoms. No immunizing dose of antitoxin was given her, and she was infected with moderately severe pharyngeal diphtheria. I immediately injected 1,500 units of antitoxin and repeated the dose on the following day, combined with local antiseptic and internal supportive treatment, with the result that at the end of the week she was convalescent. Four months later I saw this patient and noticed that the large tumor of the neck had disappeared, and that the eye symptoms were a trifle better. She stated that since the attack of diphtheria the goiter had grown smaller to such an extent that she noticed the

THE RELATION OF THE TOXICITY OF DIPHTHERIA TOXIN TO ITS NEUTRALIZING VALUE UPON ANTITOXIN AT DIFFERENT STAGES IN THE GROWTH OF CULTURE

THE RELATION OF THE TOXICITY OF DIPHTHERIA TOXIN TO ITS NEUTRALIZING VALUE UPON ANTITOXIN AT DIFFERENT STAGES IN THE GROWTH OF CULTURE