Anti-Gamma Globulins and Chronic Infection: Comparative Studies of the Immune Response to Various Bacteria and Gamma Globulin Preparations

Abstract

A study of the relationship of clinical states associated with prolonged infection (bacterial endocarditis and osteomyelitis) and generation of serum anti-gamma globulins was made with particular reference to quantitative amounts of staphylococcal protein A in various infecting strains. No correlation between individual strain amounts of protein A and presence of anti-gamma globulins was detected. Thirty-eight rabbits were immunized intravenously with various strains of bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus , enterococci, Streptomyces viridans , pneumococci, pseudomonas, and Escherichia coli ) for periods of 6 weeks, and antibacterial as well as anti-gamma globulin antibodies were assayed. No single group or strain of bacteria stood out as being more prone to produce anti-gamma globulins than others tested. Most rabbits developed anti-gamma globulins reacting with human gamma globulins, whereas the specificity for rabbit gamma globulin appeared more restricted. In 16 rabbits immunized with eight different strains of S. aureus , quantitative elevation of serum gamma globulin above 2.5 g per 100 ml often seemed to be correlated with presence of detectable serum anti-gamma globulins. By contrast 15 rabbits immunized with autologous or isologous rabbit gamma globulins in many instances developed extremely high titers of anti-gamma globulins showing primary specificity for human rather than rabbit gamma globulin. These studies further amplify the remarkably heterogeneous anti-gamma globulin reactivity associated with various types of immune response.