9,^]6 LOCAL ILSSHE REAC;TIVITY 



I lie lack ol sj)C'(ili( rclat ioiisliijis between the preparaloi) and 

 provocative factors ol tlie phenomenon. In (ontrast, however, it 

 Avas clearly seen from the data of this and following chapters that 

 the actixe principles of the phenomenon derived from various 

 microorganisms are antigenically specific. 



The foregoing evidence alone offers a decisive argument against 

 a possible relationship between true specilic anaphylaxis and the 

 phenomenon of local tissue reactivity. In addition, there exists a 

 number of other experiments whidi fully supjx)rt this la(k of 

 relationship, as folloAvs: 



It is rather difhcult to admit that the short inter\al of time 

 necessary for elicitation of the state of reactivity is sufficient for 

 local production of sensitizing antibodies. An assumption of this 

 sort Avould be in sharj) contrast to the knoxvledge concerning the 

 necessary incid)ation j^eriod in anaphylactic sensitization, i.e., at 

 least five to seven days in the guinea pig and several xveeks in 

 general and local anaphylaxis of rabbits. Although in the phe- 

 nomenon of local skin reactivity the optimiun interval of time 

 betAveen the intradermal preparatory and provocati\e injections 

 is twenty-foiu' hoins, in some raloljits it may be as short as six 

 hoius. Moreover, xvhen the state of preparation is elicited by Avay 

 of the local vascular system, as in the ear (in combination with 

 heat or testicular extract increasing the permeability of the blood 

 vessels and thus alloxving the passage of the preparatory factors 

 into the perivascular tissue) , an incubation period of one-half 

 hoiu' to two hours may be sufficient. 



Binnet (1931) reported that he ^vas afjle to prevent the occur- 

 rence of the phenomenon in a portion of the prepared skin site 

 by a local injection of active material immediately before the 

 intravenous injection. Because in his experiments active bacte- 

 rial filtrates and formalinized bacterial filtrates were more effec- 

 tive than immune serum or saline, the inhibition Avas considered 

 by him to have been due to local desensitization. It ^vas assiuned 

 by Klein (1931-32) , hoxvever, that the increased tension in the 

 skin created by the second skin injection might mechanically 

 collapse the local blood vessels and thus shield a portion of the 

 prepared tissue from the injurious agents circulating" in the blood 

 stream. With this in view he repeated Burnet's experiments, using 

 various non-bacterial substances for inhibition. Local inhibition 

 was produced in meningococcus and B. dysenteriae prepared 

 sites by adrenalin, pituitrin, normal saline, phenolized saline, 



