Immunological studies on adrenal glands

Abstract

Antisera prepared in rabbits by immunization with rabbit adrenal homogenate were shown to contain as many as three or four distinct antibodies to adrenal extract. This was generally demonstrated by concentrating the antisera. In some of the studies even the untreated antiserum revealed two or more antibodies. Three of the precipitation lines were specific for adrenal extract, while a fourth line reacted with extracts of many tissues, corresponding apparently to an antigen commonly distributed in the body. The possibility that serum groups might be involved in some of these responses was ruled out by a number of negative results on various serum and globulin samples tested as possible antigens. Further studies showed that at least three of the antibodies, and possibly all four of them, were in fact autoantibodies. The distribution of the corresponding autoantigens was evaluated by comparison of extracts of bovine adrenal cortex and medulla with those of whole rabbit adrenal. The medulla contained two of these antigens, and the cortex contained one of the others.

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