A NOTE ON THE USE OF PURIFIED ANTIGEN OF 



BESREDKA IN THE SERUM DIAGNOSIS 



OF TUBERCULOSIS 



J. BRONFENBRENNER and J. ROCKMAN 



(Pathological and Research Laboratories of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, 



Pittsburgh, Pa.) 



In a preliminary communication before the Society for Ex- 

 perimental Biology and Medicine, last February/ one of us reported 

 results of a series of experiments in the serum diagnosis of tubercu- 

 losis with Besredka's tuberculin as antigen. The stated conclu- 

 sions were that, although this reaction seemed to be specific in 

 tuberculosis, yet the fact that the antigen contains lipin (derived 

 from culture media on which the tubercle bacillus is grown), opens 

 the possibility that certain non-tuberculous sera having lipotropic 

 properties might fix the complement with this antigen. In order to 

 avoid this possible non-specific reaction it was proposed to delipin- 

 ize the antigen.^ 



In a large series of experiments, in which the tuberculin of 

 Besredka was deprived of its lipins by means of extraction with 

 ether in a separatory funnel, it was found that the antigenic prop- 

 erties of this tuberculin were not injured thereby.^ It was also 

 found that, in spite of the fact that a comparatively large number 

 of syphilitic sera fixed the complement in presence of Besredka's 

 tuberculin, this fixation was not due to the presence of lipin in the 

 tuberculin, but to the fact that apparently these syphilitics, either 

 on account of their disease or because of the antisyphilitic treatment, 

 are highly susceptible to tubercular infection. 



1 Bronfenbrenner : Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 1914, xi, p. 92. 



2 We use "delipinize" rather than "delipolize" (formerly employed by us), 

 in Order to avoid suggestions of lytic efifects. " Delipinize " depends upon and 

 accords with the convenient use of the term " lipins " to designate fats and 

 lipoids collectively. See Wells : Chemical Pathology, 1914, p. 23. 



3 These findings have been confirmed lately by Renaux : Compt. rend. soc. 

 biol., 1914, Ixxvi, p. 864. 



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