THE EFFICACY OF FRAGMENTED IMMUNE SERUM GLOBULIN IN PASSIVE IMMUNIZATION

Abstract

The efficacy of an aged, fragmented preparation of immune serum globulin (human) as an agent for passive immunization was examined by comparing its performance in passive immunization with that of a fresh, unfragmented preparation. Guinea pigs passively immunized with the fresh preparation were protected against doses of tetanus toxin that were lethal to pigs which had received similar amounts of tetanus antitoxin as aged material.Monkeys passively immunized by intramuscular or intravenous injections of fresh immune serum globulin had levels of polio antibody in their serum which were consistently seven times higher than those produced by injection of the aged material. Urine collected from the monkeys treated with the aged material contained quantities of both polio and tetanus antibody as Fab fragment. After the intravenous injection of the aged material more than half of the injected antibody appeared in the urine within 24 hours.