THE PITUITARY BODY 



the immune aspects of antihormone due to prolan prepared 

 from urine of pregnancy. They found that the apparent con- 

 centration of antihormone present in the serum of rabbits 

 could not be correlated with precipitin or complement-devia- 

 tion reactions. Such immune reactions appeared to depend 

 upon (i) an antibody specific for human protein and (2) an 

 antibody specific for an antigen associated with prolan but 

 occurring in human urine irrespective of the presence or ab- 

 sence of prolan. The results of Bachman (1935), although 

 less complete, are in agreement with those of Kindermann 

 and Eichbaum. Twombly (1936) favored the view that anti- 

 hormone toward prolan is similar to an antibody formed in 

 response to a foreign protein. The precipitin-reaction (rab- 

 bits were given an extract of pregnancy-urine) was parallel 

 to the antihormone content of sera. Prolan inactivated be- 

 cause of heat or age was about as efficient in evoking anti- 

 hormone formation as were potent preparations. The serum 

 of patients receiving prolan (100 rat-units daily) for 2-6 

 weeks or for more than a year contained no antihormone — 

 indicating that the protein, being homologous, evoked no 

 antibody reaction. In confirmation of Twombly, De Fremery 

 and Scheygrond (1937) reported that an extract of male 

 urine, if injected into rabbits, caused the production of sub- 

 stances preventing the gonadotropic effects of prolan. It 

 seemed unlikely that the small amount of gonadotropic ac- 

 tivity in the '"antigen" could be responsible for the effect. 

 The urine contained non-specific substances with the anti- 

 genic properties of prolan.'^ 



Harington and Rowlands (1937) investigated the chemical 

 nature of gonadotropic antihormone in the serum of the goat 

 or the rabbit which had received repeated injections of pro- 

 lan or extract of pregnant-mare serum. The antihormone 

 of prolan was recovered quantitatively in the globulin frac- 

 tion of serum and was distributed between the pseudoglobulin 



" See also Laroche and Simmonet (1936J who injected "Antelobine" into patients 

 and subsequently tested their serum for antihormone. 



[ 140] 



