Abstract
1. Groups of normal rabbits were given, single intravenous injections of foreign proteins in doses of 1 gm. per kilo, bled at regular intervals for serologic studies, and sacrificed after varying lengths of time for pathological studies. The protein solutions used were of crystallized bovine serum albumin, bovine serum gamma globulin, and bovine serum. The experiments were planned, first, to correlate the sequence of pathological and immunological changes, and second, to compare the responses to two chemically and immunologically distinct plasma protein fractions and to the whole serum of the same species. 2. (a) The principal pathological lesions in rabbits given bovine serum were similar to those which have been previously observed following, the injection of horse serum and were characterized by widely dispersed but segmental acute inflammatory lesions of the arteries. These lesions were at their height 2 weeks after injection and showed marked repair at 4 weeks. (b) Crystallized bovine serum albumin produced lesions almost exclusively confined to the arteries which were at their height at 2 weeks, were healing at 3, and healed by 4 weeks. The lesions were less numerous and less intense than in animals given whole serum and were only found in some of the animals. (c) Bovine serum gamma globulin elicited quite different histologic sequences. The most striking lesions involved the glomeruli of the kidneys, and to a lesser degree, the heart. Lesions in the liver and joints were present but less conspicuous, and arterial lesions were rare and slight in degree. The lesions not only differed from those in rabbits given albumin in distribution but in timing, since they were most widespread and acute at 1 week and were healing at 2 weeks after injection. Moreover, lesions were observed in almost every animal. 3. Results of immunological studies were consistent with the interpretation that the pathological lesions were due to an antigen-antibody reaction in the tissues, as shown by the following: (a) Acute lesions were only observed when antigen was present and before antibody appeared in the circulation. (b) Healing of lesions was only observed (with one exception) when antigen had almost or completely disappeared from the circulation, usually with the appearance of antibody. (c) There was a correlation between the rapidity of evolution of the lesions and the rapidity with which the antigen disappeared from the circulation. (d) There was a rough correlation between the proportion of animals showing lesions and the proportion developing antibodies after the injection of a particular protein solution.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.6 MB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bailey O. T., Hawn C. V. The Effect of Crystallized Bovine Serum Albumin on the Tissues of Normal Animals: I. Morphologic Changes in Normal Rabbits Induced by Intravenous Injection of Crystallized Bovine Serum Albumin. Am J Pathol. 1943 Mar;19(2):267–291. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dale H. H., Hartley P. Anaphylaxis to the Separated Proteins of Horse-serum. Biochem J. 1916 Oct;10(3):408–433. doi: 10.1042/bj0100408. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ehrich W. E., Harris T. N. THE SITE OF ANTIBODY FORMATION. Science. 1945 Jan 12;101(2611):28–31. doi: 10.1126/science.101.2611.28. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fleisher M. S., Jones L. SERUM SICKNESS IN RABBITS : I. MANIFESTATIONS OF SERUM SICKNESS. J Exp Med. 1931 Sep 30;54(4):597–613. doi: 10.1084/jem.54.4.597. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kass E. H. THE OCCURRENCE OF NORMAL SERUM GAMMA-GLOBULIN IN HUMAN LYMPHOCYTES. Science. 1945 Mar 30;101(2622):337–338. doi: 10.1126/science.101.2622.337. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Longcope W. T., Rackemann F. M. THE RELATION OF CIRCULATING ANTIBODIES TO SERUM DISEASE. J Exp Med. 1918 Mar 1;27(3):341–358. doi: 10.1084/jem.27.3.341. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Longcope W. T. THE PRODUCTION OF EXPERIMENTAL NEPHRITIS BY REPEATED PROTEID INTOXICATION. J Exp Med. 1913 Dec 1;18(6):678–702. doi: 10.1084/jem.18.6.678. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Miller C. P. SPONTANEOUS INTERSTITIAL MYOCARDITIS IN RABBITS. J Exp Med. 1924 Sep 30;40(4):543–551. doi: 10.1084/jem.40.4.543. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sabin F. R. CELLULAR REACTIONS TO A DYE-PROTEIN WITH A CONCEPT OF THE MECHANISM OF ANTIBODY FORMATION. J Exp Med. 1939 Jun 30;70(1):67–82. doi: 10.1084/jem.70.1.67. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smith C. C., Zeek P. M., McGuire J. Periarteritis Nodosa in Experimental Hypertensive Rats and Dogs. Am J Pathol. 1944 Jul;20(4):721–735. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]