I042 ORIGIN OF ANTIBODIES 



marrow, spleen, lymph node, or liver, the inhibition of antibody response appears to 

 depend both on the dosage and on the time of administration with reference to the 

 antigen injection, 



THE EFFECTS OF EXTIRPATION OF ORGANS 



All the organs of the body that can be removed without destroying life have been 

 extirpated on the chance that antibody production might, be inhibited. Pfeiffer and 

 Marx' observed no change in the antibody response in splenectomized animals, and 

 they assumed that the role of antibody production was quickly taken over by other 

 organs. Deutsch,^ Rath,^ Hektoen,4 and others observed that removing the spleen at 

 about the time of antigen injection delayed antibody response. Extracts of the re- 

 moved spleens caused the production of antibodies when they were injected into 

 fresh animals. Russ and Kirschner,^ reviewing the evidence of the spleen as the site 

 of agglutinin production, concluded that the role of the spleen was quickly taken over 

 by other organs when it was removed. Hektoen and Curtis^ found that the removal 

 of the stomach or small intestine or thyroid gland had no effect on hemolysin in serum 

 when dogs were operated upon several days before the injection of rat blood. Re- 

 moval of the pancreas and spleen resulted in an antibody production comparable to 

 that produced by the removal of the spleen alone. The removal of adrenal or half of 

 the liver had no apparent effect on antibody production. Take and Marine,^ con- 

 trary to the results of Ecker and Rogoff ,^ Hektoen and Curtis,' and Gates,'" discovered 

 that high-grade suprarenalectomy in rabbits increased the titre for hemolysin for 

 sheep cells. They believed that this result was due to the loss of some regulatory and 

 inhibitory influence which the gland normally exerted on the irritability and suscepti- 

 bility of the body cells. Portis" removed the omentum from rabbits, guinea pigs, and 

 dogs; the subsequent production of antibody was reduced in rabbits, but only slightly 

 modified in dogs and guinea pigs, a result due, he thought, to species variation in the 

 structure of the omentum, that of the rabbit containing many clasmatocytes while that 

 of the dog and guinea pig had few or none. Cutler'^ thought that the endocrine organs 

 might enter into the mechanism of antibody production. He removed part of the hy- 

 pophysis in guinea pigs and subsequently injected them with B. typhosus and hen 

 erythrocytes. There was practically no reduction in antibody response, and he con- 

 cluded that the hypophysis in amount necessary for maintaining life had no direct 

 or indirect effect on antibody production. 



Launoy and Levy-Bruhl'^ cite the literature upon the role of thyroid in immunity. 



I Pfeiffer, R., and Marx.: loc. cil. ^ Deutsch, L.: loc. cU. ^ Rath, U.: loc. cit. 



4 Hektoen, L.: /. Infect. Dis., 6, 78. 1909. 



5 Russ, V. K., and Kirschner, L.: Zlschr.f. Immunitdtsjorsch. u. ex per. Therap., 32, 113. 1921. 

 ^Hektoen, L., and Curtis, A. R.: /. Infect. Dis., 17, 409. 1915. 



7 Take, N. M., and Marine, D.: loc. cil. 



* Ecker, E. E., and Rogoff, J. M.: J . Immunol., 6, 355. 1921. 



'Hektoen, L., and Curtis, A. R.; loc. cit. 



" Gates, F. L.: J. E.xpcr. Med., 27, 725. 1918. 



" Portis, B.: J. Infect. Dis., 34, 159. 1924. " Cutler, E. C: J. E.xpcr. Med., 35, 243. 1922. 



'3 Launoy, L., and Levy-iiruhl, M.: Ann. de I'Inst. Pasteur, 29, 213. 1915. 



