TRAPANI 



The experimental animal was the rabbit; the antigen- antibody 

 system used was bovine serum albumin (BSA) and anti-BSA pre- 

 cipitins. The low temperature studies were done in an especially 

 constructed cold box having a capacity of 10 rabbits. Adequate pro- 

 vision was made for lighting and fresh air without drafts, and the 

 animals were kept on wire mesh in individual cages. Water was 

 changed four times a day because of freezing and standard food was 

 provided ad libitum. Animals exposed to high altitude were main- 

 tained at the Barcroft Laboratory (altitude =12,500 ft.) of the White 

 Mountain High Altitude Station in California, or, in more recent 

 studies, at the Summit Laboratory (altitude =14,150 ft.) of the Inter- 

 University High Altitude Laboratory, Mount Evans, Colorado. 



Much of the work discussed here was done in collaboration with 

 Professor Dan H, Campbell at the California Institute of Technology. 



It became apparent from our earlier studies on the immune re- 

 sponse that it was not possible to investigate the effect of environ- 

 mental stress without implicating physiological alterations which 

 might occur and thus influence the synthesis and metabolism of 

 antibody. Our initial studies on the effect of low environmental 

 temperature and high altitude were extended to include experiments 

 on animals which were in endocrine imbalance in an attempt to 

 isolate one of several physiological factors which might be altered 

 under conditions of stress. The study of these physiological factors, 

 their inter- relationships, and their influence on antibody synthesis 

 and decay is expressed in the term immunophysiology. 



The purpose of my discussion is not necessarily oriented toward 

 the elucidation of all of theproblemsrelatingto antibody formation, 

 but rather to emphasize some of its complexities and some of the 

 secondary factors which influence the immune response. The topic 

 of interest, for the moment, is not concerned with speculations re- 

 lating to cellular mechanisms per se which maybe responsible for, 

 or may participate in, the synthesis of a particular protein by 

 antibody forming cells. Rather, I will attempt to elucidate the role 

 of certain physiological factors which influence the basic synthetic 

 mechanisms involved in our test system. 



Buried in the literature of the exploits of people exposed, either 



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