552 IMMUNOLOGY 



The Shwartzman Reaction.— In 1928 Shwartzman described a 

 new phenomenon of local skin reactivity to certain bacterial cul- 

 tural filtrates. Subsequent studies (1930, 1934) have revealed 

 many interesting facts regarding the reaction. In his original 

 work he reported that if one injects a small amount of a culture 

 filtrate of E. ttfphosa into the skin of a rabbit, there is very little 

 or no local response. If, twenty-four hours later, one administers 

 to the same rabbit a small amount of the filtrate intravenously, 

 one observes a severe hemorrhagic reaction developing at the site 

 where the filtrate was injected into the skin twenty-four hours 

 previously. Shwartzman concludas that the filtrate contains 

 skin preparatory and reacting factors. He has shown that the 

 preparatory effect is not due to trauma, local reticulo-endo- 

 thelial blockade, increased permeability of the capillaries or to 

 inflammation. In Shwartzman 's opinion the vulnerability is due 

 probably to a disturbance of cell function. The susceptibility 

 disappears completely in forty-eight hours. The preparatory 

 and reacting factors are not present in the filtrates of all bacteria 

 nor in crystalline e^^ albumen or horse serum. The preparatory 

 factor in the filtrate of one kind of bacteria, e.g., E. typhosa, can 

 render the skin or organ or a rabbit susceptible to the reacting 

 factor of another bacterial filtrate ; e.g., of the meningococcus. 

 When a potent filtrate is treated with the homologous immune 

 serum, both factors are neutralized in multiple proportions. In 

 this as well as in their synergistic effects they resemble toxins. 

 Because of the short incubation period (twenty-four hours), the 

 inability to transfer susceptibility passively, and the phenomenon 

 of synergism noted above, Shwartzman concludes that his reactions 

 are not to be cla.ssified as anaphylactic in nature. 



Apitz (1935) has made a rather extensive study of the Shwartz- 

 man reaction and describes a generalized reaction elicited by intra- 

 venous rather than subcutaneous injections comparable to the 

 classical Shwartzman phenomenon. He has also made chemical 

 studies of the Shwartzman-active substances. He finds the active 

 substances are contained in two different chemical fractions of 

 bacterial substances. The so-called "nucleoprotein" fraction is 

 active and is derived from bacteria by autolysis or extraction. 

 There is also an alcohol-precipitable biuret-negative fraction. It 



