4l8 LOCAL TLSSUE REACTIVITY 



It is cxlremely (lilllcult to obtain statistical inloi niatioii on the 

 effect of tiie seriiin upon typhoid lever inasmiu li as the onset ol 

 the disease is difficult to ascertain in many cases. In order to esti- 

 mate it objectively, a lew days to a week were added to the esti- 

 mated onset, thus l)rin<>in_i> many cases into the end of the third 

 and fomth ^veek, i.e., the time Avhen normal defervescence may 

 be expected to occin\ The figines, therefore, do not justify an 

 assumption that a very remarkable effect vvas obtained on the 

 duration of the disease. Against this there vvas cjften oljtained the 

 distinct clinical impression that marked relief restdted in certain 

 of the cases. This change must be seen to be appreciated. Further 

 work is necessary vvith ptirified and cc:>ncentrated sera of high 

 neutrahzing potency (Shwartzman, Baehr and Hollingsworth, 



STUDIES ON PHENOMENON-NEUTRALIZING ANTI-COLI SERA AND THEIR 

 USE IN CASES OF NON-SPECIFIC ULCERATIVE COLITIS 



As aheady pointed out on several occasions, studies on the 

 phenomenon of local skin reactivity clearly demonstrated the 

 synergistic effect of microorganisms. Under experimental condi- 

 tions, tissues made vulnerable through contact with toxic filtrate 

 of one microorganism became receptive to the severe injurious 

 effect of toxins of a large group of apparently biologically unre- 

 lated microorganisms (amcjng these B. coli, B. hijluenzae, strep- 

 tcjcoccus, etc.) . These experiments, therefore, bring into promi- 

 nence the possible role of toxins of secondary invaders or normal 

 bacterial inhabitants upon the evolution of diseases resulting from 

 specific infections. 



The etiology of non-specihc ulcerative colitis is not established 

 as yet. Nevertheless, whatever the primary etiological microorgan- 

 isin may be, tissues rendered vulnerable by it may become recep- 

 tive to the effect of natural bacterial inhabitants of the body. 

 Among the stool microorganisms one j^articularly worthy of study 

 along these lines is B. coli. 



For these reasons the effect of phenomenon-neutralizing anti- 

 coli serimi upon non-specific ulcerative colitis was studied. The 

 immimization of horses and titration of neutralizing potency of 

 the serum was made similarly to the anti-typhoid serum. Horses 

 were immunized by subcutaneous injections of pooled "agar 

 washings" filtrates and intravenotis injections of vaccines of 

 strains of B. culi obtained from normal stools and various patho- 



