The conglutination phenomenon IX. The production of immuno-conglutinin in rabbits

Abstract

1. An investigation has been carried out into the conditions necessary for the production of immuno-conglutinin in rabbits.2. The inoculation of complement adsorbed on sensitized cells stimulates the production of immuno-conglutinin. We have called this procedure hetero-stimulation.3. Immuno-conglutinin also results from the inoculation of untreated but killed bacteria. This procedure for its production we call auto-stimulation. Gram-negative bacteria appear to be more effective stimulants than Gram-positive bacteria. Soluble antigens did not appear to be as effective as bacterial suspensions.4. The necessity for clarifying the part played by immuno-conglutinin in in vivo immune processes has been stressed.The authors would like to thank the following for gifts of experimental materials: Mr H. I. Field, strains of S. pullorum; Dr J. Boissard, strain of C. hofmanni; Dr C. H. Lea and Dr R. S. Hannan, purified casein; Miss Dunkerley, Bence Jones protein. Cx polysaccharide for testing acute phase protein in rabbit serum was made available by the kindness of Dr McCarty of the Hospital of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York; and much of the work on this aspect was done in consultation with Dr H. C. Anderson, to whom we are most grateful.