THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



15 



THE WASSERMAN REACTION. 



By Hannah C. Mayer. 



Aside from scientific interest, the 

 VVasserman reaction in the diagnoses of 

 sypihs, affords us a method by means 

 of which accuracy in diagnoses may be 

 increased and the subsequent treatment 

 better regulated. The reaction is a com- 

 plicated biological one based upon com- 

 plement fixation. 



In the serum of a syphilitic patient an 

 antibody is supposed to be present and 

 it is the absence or presence of this 

 syphilitic antibody that we seek in the 

 serum diagnoses of the disease. 



The reagents used for the reaction are 

 complement, saline solution, antigens, red 

 corpuscles from a normal sheep and 

 amboceptor. 



The complement is the serum obtained 

 from a normal guinea pig and then 

 diluted to the desired strength by saline 

 solutions. The amboceptor is a product 

 which may be present in any normal 

 serum but can be produced artificially in 

 the serum of an animal by repeated in- 

 jections of substances for which it has 

 no natural amboceptor. Its function is 

 to prepare the red blood cells for the 

 action of the complement. 



The complement amboceptor and sheep 

 corpuscles constitute what is known as 

 the hemolytic systeni. 



In most cases the patient's blood is 

 most easily obtained from an arm vein. 

 An ordinary hypodermic needle which 

 has previously been sterilized is most 

 suitable for this purpose. The arm is 

 first washed with alcohol. The needle 

 is inserted into a distended vein and the 



blood allowed to drop into a test tube. 

 Blood may be obtained by pricking the 

 toes or fingers or from the ear. Five 

 c. c. is about all that is necessary for the 

 entire reaction. After the blood has 

 been allowed to stand at the room tem- 

 perature, or, if necessary in the ice-box, 

 the clear serum is separated from the 

 clot, the latter then being discarded. 



The patient's serum is heated to 

 55-6o°C for half an hour in order to 

 destroy all native complement, which is 

 usually present to a more or less degree. 

 A specific complement is supplied by 

 serum obtained from a normal guinea 

 pig. After the addition of the comple- 

 ment the antigens are added, and the 

 latter unite with the antibodies and ac- 

 quire the property of fixing the comple- 

 ment in such a way that if red- blood 

 cells and their specific amboceptor be 

 added later, no hemolysis will occur. 



After all the reagents have been added 

 in the proper ratio, the tubes are placed 

 on the water bath and allowed to 

 incubate for one hour at 373^ °C. The 

 absence or presence of hemolysis at the 

 end of this time determines whether or 

 not the reaction be positive. The positive 

 reaction is indicated by the absence of 

 hemolysis. A negative reaction is in- 

 dicated by complete hemolysis in all the 

 tubes used. The latter result appears as 

 a perfectly clear red fluid. 



When the blood of a patient proves 

 to be positive he is given immediate and 

 regular treatment of Salvarsan which, 

 if given during an early stage of the 

 disease and with proper care may render 

 the blood of that patient negative after 

 a certain period of time. — Read before 

 the xA.merican Women's Phar. Ass'n. 



