Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1953 Jul 1;98(1):1–12. doi: 10.1084/jem.98.1.1

THE MECHANISM OF ACTION OF CORTISONE IN EXPERIMENTAL HYPERSENSITIVITY

II. HYPERSENSITIVITY OF THE SERUM SICKNESS TYPE

Frederick G Germuth Jr 1
PMCID: PMC2136279  PMID: 13069645

Abstract

Cortisone markedly suppressed the cardiovascular and renal lesions of serum sickness type hypersensitivity which ordinarily develop following the intravenous injection of bovine albumin. The inhibitory effect of cortisone on the allergic granulomatous lesions of the spleen was less striking; the lesions were less extensive, but the percentage of animals affected was unchanged. Cortisone in the dosage employed had no effect on the elimination of antigen following its intravenous administration or on the appearance of circulating antibody. These findings indicate that inhibition of the lesions of serum sickness by cortisone does not depend on the suppression of antibody production. Therefore, it is inferred that cortisone somehow protects the animal from the damaging effects of antigen-antibody union.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (782.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. COOKE R. A., SHERMAN W. B., MENZEL A. E. O., CHAPIN H. B., HOWELL C. M., SCOTT R. B., MYERS P. A., DOWNING L. M. ACTH and cortisone in allergic diseases; clinical, serologic (electrophoretic), and immunologic studies. J Allergy. 1951 May;22(3):211–236. doi: 10.1016/0021-8707(51)90016-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. DAMESHEK W., ROSENTHAL M. C., SCHWARTZ L. I. The treatment of acquired hemolytic anemia with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). N Engl J Med. 1950 Jan 25;244(4):117–127. doi: 10.1056/NEJM195101252440401. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DIXON F. J., BUKANTZ S. C., DAMMIN G. J., TALMAGE D. W. Fate of I131 labelled bovine gamma globulin in rabbits. Fed Proc. 1951 Jun;10(2):553–557. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GERMUTH F. G., Jr A comparative histologic and immunologic study in rabbits of induced hypersensitivity of the serum sickness type. J Exp Med. 1953 Feb 1;97(2):257–282. doi: 10.1084/jem.97.2.257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. GERMUTH F. G., Jr, NEDZEL G. A., OTTINGER B., OYAMA J. Anatomic and histologic changes in rabbits with experimental hypersensitivity treated with Compound E and ACTH. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1951 Jan;76(1):177–182. doi: 10.3181/00379727-76-18430. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. GERMUTH F. G., Jr, OTTINGER B. Effect of 17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone (compound E) and of ACTH on arthus reaction and antibody formation in the rabbit. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1950 Aug;74(4):815–823. doi: 10.3181/00379727-74-18058. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. GERMUTH F. G., Jr, OTTINGER B., OYAMA J. Influence of cortisone on experimental hypersensitivity and circulating antibody in the guinea pig. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1952 Jun;80(2):188–191. doi: 10.3181/00379727-80-19565. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. GERMUTH F. G., Jr, OTTINGER B., OYAMA J. The influence of cortisone on the evolution of acute infection and the development of immunity. Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1952 Jul;91(1):22–47. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. GERMUTH F. G., Jr, OYAMA J., OTTINGER B. The mechanism of action of 17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone (compound E) and of the adrenocorticotropic hormone in experimental hypersensitivity in rabbits. J Exp Med. 1951 Aug;94(2):139–170. doi: 10.1084/jem.94.2.139. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. MOLL F. C., HAWN C. V. Z. Experimental hypersensitivity; a study in the relationship of corticotropin (ACTH) and adrenalectomy to the serologic sequence and production of pathological lesions following injection of heterologous serum protein. AMA Am J Dis Child. 1952 Jan;83(1):79–80. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. RICH A. R., BENNETT I. L., COCHRAN T. H., GRIFFITH P. C., McGOON D. C. The effect of ACTH and cortisone upon experimental anaphylactic glomerulonephritis. Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1951 Feb;88(2):189–193. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. RICH A. R., BERTHRONG M., BENNETT I. L., Jr, COCHRAN T. H., GRIFFITH P. C., McGOON D. C. The effect of ACTH and cortisone upon experimental glomerulonephritis. Trans Assoc Am Physicians. 1951;64:257–261. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. RICH A. R., BERTHRONG M., BENNETT I. L., Jr The effect of cortisone upon the experimental cardiovascular and renal lesions produced by anaphylactic hypersensitivity. Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1950 Dec;87(6):549–567. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. RICH A. R. The occurrence of focal tuberculoid lesions in experimental serum sickness. Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp. 1952 Aug;91(2):109–123. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SEIFTER J., EHRICH W. E., BEGANY A. J., WARREN G. H. Effects of cortisone, hyaluronidase, desoxycorticosterone, and artisone on experimental serum disease in rabbits. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1950 Nov;75(2):337–342. doi: 10.3181/00379727-75-18191. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. SPRAGUE C. C., HARRINGTON W. J., LANGE R. D., SHAPLEIGH J. B. Platelet transfusions and the pathogenesis of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. J Am Med Assoc. 1952 Nov 22;150(12):1193–1198. doi: 10.1001/jama.1952.03680120029009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES