Horace S. Baldwin

Studies of materials derived from staphylococcus: III. Protective action of gamma globulin against the anaphylactoid effects of a staphylococcal bacterial fraction

Abstract Through use of the agar precipitin method, human sera have been shown to contain antibodies directed against both culture filtrates and bacterial extracts of staphylococci. Most of the antibodies were directed against culture filtrates. All of the Staphylococcus aureus strains studied produced antigens which reacted with HGG, while only two of nine Staphylococcus albus strains formed antigens reacting with HGG. This suggests a relationship between the pathogenicity of a strain of staphylococcus and its ability to stimulate antibody production.

Studies of materials derived from staphylococcus: IV. Precipitating antibodies to staphylococcal antigens in human sera☆

Abstract Through use of the agar precipitin method, human sera have been shown to contain antibodies directed against both culture filtrates and bacterial extracts of staphylococci. Most of the antibodies were directed against culture filtrates. All of the Staphylococcus aureus strains studied produced antigens which reacted with HGG, while only two of nine Staphylococcus albus strains formed antigens reacting with HGG. This suggests a relationship between the pathogenicity of a strain of staphylococcus and its ability to stimulate antibody production.

Chemical and immunologic studies of low ragweed pollen extract

Abstract 1.1. The immunologic activity of three fractions of low ragweed pollen extract, prepared by serial precipitation with alcohol and treatment with chloroform was compared with that of standard pollen extract. 2.2. Fraction B contained approximately 7 per cent nitrogen and 14 per cent carbohydrate; fraction D contained approximately 5 per cent nitrogen and 58 per cent carbohydrate, and fraction S contained approximately 1.4 per cent nitrogen and 60 per cent carbohydrate and gave a negative ninhydrin test. 3.3. Standard pollen extract and fractions B and D, but not fraction S were precipitated in vitro by rabbit anti-ragweed serum. Standard pollen extract and fraction B, but not the others, were also precipitated by rabbit anti-fraction B serum. No precipitations were observed with rabbit anti-fraction D serum. 4.4. Sensitization of guinea pigs to standard pollen extract was produced with each fraction. Sensitization to fraction B was produced with all fractions, except fraction S. Sensitization to fraction D was produced only with fraction D. No sensitization to fraction S could be produced. 5.5. Studies of untreated ragweed sensitive persons showed that the threshold of sensitivity for skin and conjunctiva to standard pollen extract was lower than to any of the three fractions. 6.6. Fairly strong evidence is presented indicating that the carbohydrate fraction of low ragweed pollen extract is not a very active antigen since, while it sensitized guinea pigs to whole ragweed extract and elicited positive reactions in untreated ragweed sensitive human beings, it failed to produce precipitins in rabbits. 7.7. The further the attempts to purify and fractionate the original ragweed pollen extract were carried out, the less striking and consistent were the immunologic reactions observed. Immunologic reactivity diminished with a decrease in the nitrogen content of the fraction.

Studies in the asthmatic state: I. The stimulus

C LINICAL observation of bronchial asthma emphasizes t,he great variety of influences which seem to bring on attacks. Before the relationship of protein sensitization and allergy to asthma was studied, major importance was attributed Do respiratory infection, disturbances in the nose, psychic and emotional disturbances, atmospheric and barometric conditions, and reflex stimulation from disturbances of the gastrointestinal tract and uterus. Since the introduction of the idea of allergy and protein sensitization, an at,tempt has been made to fit all bronchial asthma into an hypothesis whose major premise is that bronchial asthma is primarily a disease of allergy and that all other manifestations of the asthmatic state are secondary to this phenomenon. Thus, Cooke’ states that although almost all cases of bronchial asthma give as the apparent reason for their attacks a large and heterogeneous group of causes, he believes that t,hey act only in those individuals in whom bronchospasm has become a habit as a result of some previously manifested allergic reaction. He believes that a hereditary disposition toward allergy exists and that the basis is a constitutional factor. Alexander,2 on the ot.her hand, stresses the fact that only in recent years has bronchial asthma come to be looked upon as something more than an effect resulting from a single process, be that infection, psychic disturbances, nasal irritation, allergy, or mechanical irritation of the bronchi. He believes t,hat a broader concept,ion of the disease, although as yet imperfectly understood, is leading to a more exact understanding of the reactions involved and thereby offers a wider outlook for rational therapeutic measures. The present study is concerned with the question of the st,imulus to the asthmatic state. It will seek to evaluate the role of allergic and other classes of stimuli in the disease entity known as chronic bronchial asthma. As a result of the clinical study of ast,hmatics it will be shown that whereas the quantity and quality of stimuli vary widely, the end-reaction may be the same. It will also be indicated that the ultimate basis of the asthmatic state lies in neurophysiologic relationships, particularly those involving excitation of the vagus nerve and its reflex paths.

REPORT OF AN EXPLORATORY CONFERENCE ON UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING OF ALLERGY.

A n Exploratory Conference on Undergraduate Education in Allergy was held on Jan. 18, 1964, at Inglis House, University of Michigan, under the sponsorship of the Allergy Foundation of America, and financially supported by the Robert A. Cooke Memorial Fund of the Foundation. The purpose of this conference was to provide for an exchange of information and ideas about selected problems related to undergraduate education in allergy, with the hope of finding means of improving teaching in this field. The conference was attended by the Foundation’s Joint Committee on Medical Education, a selected group of teachers of allergy kom medical schools throughout the United Sta,tes, t.he departmental Chairmen in Medicine, Dermatology, Microbiology, Pathology, and Pharmacology, a Professor of Pediatrics from the University of Michigan Medical School, and the officers of the Foundation. The authors have attempted, in this report, to summarize briefly the results of this conference.