Isaac Ruchman

Characteristics of the Toxoplasma Neutralizing Antibody.

Summary The toxoplasma neutralizing antibody was found to be so labile even at temperatures of about 5°C, that it could disappear after one to 2 weeks of storage in an ordinary refrigerator. The antibody effect was destroyed by heating at 56 °C for 30 minutes and could not be restored by the addition of fresh complement. The antibody could be preserved for months at the low temperature provided by solid CO2 in an insulated box. Antibody was absent in the fresh sera of rhesus monkeys before infection with toxoplasma but appeared within one to 2 weeks after infection and persisted for at least 14 months which is the limit of observation thus far. This persistence of neutralizing antibody was not associated with persistence of toxoplasma in the monkeys, since none could be found in tests on a large number of tissues from 3 monkeys, 14, 17, and 26 weeks after infection. No neutralizing antibody was found in the fresh sera of normal rabbits, mice, cats, or dogs, nor did these animals develop any appreciable antibody after recovery from experimental infection with toxoplasma.

Cultivation of Toxoplasma in the developing Chick Embryo.

Summary A laboratory-adapted strain of toxoplasma was successfully propagated in the embryonated hens egg. Uniform mortality was obtained and the majority of deaths occurred between Sand 6 days after inoculation. The concentration of organisms in the chick embryo gave LD50 titers of 10-4.5 to 10-5.0 which approximated that usually attained in mice. Repeated passage through eggs resulted in no modification of pathogenicity for animals.

MER-27 a suppressant of non-bacterial pneumonia in mice.

Summary An organic synthetic compound, MER-27, suppresses pneumonia in mice induced by influenza virus when given parenterally or orally. The compound has no effect on viral multiplication. MER-27 also suppresses pneumonia induced by Escherichia coli endotoxin. MER-27 does not enhance viral infection and therefore closely resembles Xerosin in its action.

Spread of Virus in an Unvaccinated Case of Human Rabies

Summary In a 55-year-old man who died of rabies two months after a bite on the hand, virus was not demonstrated at the site of the bite but was present in appreciable amounts in the cervical cord and medulla, the cornu ammonis, and the olfactory bulbs; only a trace was found in the nasal mucosa and the tonsillar and pha-ryngeal tissue, and none was found in the feces, saliva, subarachnoid fluid, and heart blood. The patients serum obtained post-mortem had no neutralizing antibodies for the virus.

Eczema vaccinatum: Recovery of vaccine virus from the cutaneous lesions of two children and the demonstration of an antibody rise during convalescence

Summary An infectious agent was recovered from the cutaneous lesions of two children with eczema vaccinatum. Both agents were identified as a strain of vaccinia by the demonstration of cytoplasmic inclusions in the corneas of inoculated rabbits and the development of cross-immunity in rabbits. Each patient showed a rise in neutralizing antibodies against a known strain of vaccinia during convalescence.