Maxwell Richter

Myelin-binding antibodies in experimental "allergic" encephalomyelitis.

Antibodies with a specificity for myelin, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence, are present in the sera of rabbits injected with spinal cord. These antibodies react with both adult rabbit and human spinal cord but not with unmyelinated areas of neonatal human spinal cord.

Immunologic studies of ragweed-sensitive patients treated by a single repository antigen injection.

T HE treatment of allergic rhinitis and asthma due to pollens by the injection of allergens emulsified in oil has been attempted in the past on several occasions. However, the results were not very encouraging.‘, 2 It is only recently33 4, 5 that practical and useful methods of treatment, based on the emulsion principle, have been devised. Although this mode of treatment is now widely used, several pertinent questions remain unanswered, such as the utilization of objective methods which might demonstrate the efficiency or superiority of such treatment over the conventional meth0d.O This paper is primarily concerned with immunologic studies ( SSAt titers, blocking antibody titers, hemagglutinin titers) on the sera of 35 ragweed-sensitive patients who were all treated by a single repository ragweed injection in June, 1960, at the Royal Victoria Hospital Allergy Clinic.

Cells involved in cell-mediated and transplantation immunity in the rabbit. 8. The killer cell activity of the lymphocytes in the gastrointestine-associated lymphoid organs of the normal unsensitized adult rabbit.

Radioactively labelled (51Cr) rabbit spleen cells were used as target cells in culture with autologous or homologous lymphoid cells. Optimal conditions for radioactive labelling of the cells and culture conditions were established. It was demonstrated that autologous lymphoid cells were incapable of inducing cell death and 51Cr release of the target spleen cells. On the other hand, homologous lymphoid cells, namely the SAPP cells (sacculus rotundus, appendix, Peyers patches) and circulating lymphocytes, were capable of inducing almost 100% cell death of the target spleen cells. Homologous thymus and bone marrow cells displayed no cytotoxic activity, whereas homologous spleen and lymph node cells displayed intermediate activity. The fact that optimal cytotoxic activity was observed within 18 hr of culture strongly suggests that the killer cell is a transformed SAPP cell rather than a progeny of a precursor cell, and that this transformation occurs in vitro without prior deliberate sensitization of the rabbit SAPP cell donor with the target cell antigens.

Effect of reduction and alkylation on allergen-combining properties of reaginic antibody☆

Abstract The γA-globulin fraction of a reaginic serum was reduced in 0.1M mercaptoethanol followed by alkylation with iodoacetate. Reaginic antibody in the preparation was inactivated by the treatment. The reduced-alkylated γA-globulin did not manifest blocking antibody activity in the Prausnitz-Kustner reaction when it was incubated with allergen. Pretreatment of allergen-coated polyaminostyrene with untreated reaginic γA-globulin decreased the activity of the immune adsorbent to combine with the reagin, whereas treatment with the reduced-alkylated sample did not, indicating that the allergen-combining activity of the reagin was greatly diminished by the reduction-alkylation treatment. The reduced-alkylated γA-globulin from either normal or reaginic serum partially blocked passive sensitization of normal human skin with reagin, suggesting that affinity of reaginic antibody for tissues remained after the treatment. The results definitely indicate that the allergen-combining site(s) in reaginic antibody in the γA-globulin fraction is degraded by the reduction-alkylation treatment.

Diphtheria Antitoxin: Antigen-Combining and Toxin-Neutralizing Properties of Papain Fragments

Papain-digested rabbit antibodies to diphtheria toxoid were separated into three fragments. Fragments I and II combined with toxoid in vitro and neutralized toxin. The ratios of these activities were not the same for fragments I and II, indicating that antitoxic and accessory antibody may be distributed unequally between two classes of antibody.