CHAPTER VIII 



CHEMISTRY OF THE IMMUNITY REACTIONS (Continued). 

 ANAPHYLAXIS OR ALLERGY, ABDERHALDEN REACTION. 



ANAPHYLAXIS OR ALLERGY 



In many instances the injection of a foreign protein into an ani- 

 mal produces severe, perhaps fatal, intoxication. With some pro- 

 teins this natural toxicity is very marked, — thus eel serum is fatal 

 to rabbits and dogs in doses of 0.1 to 0.3 c.c. per kilo, and foreign 

 sera are commonly toxic to other animals; e. g., fresh bovine and 

 human serum are quite toxic to guinea-pigs. This so-called ''pri^ 

 mary" toxicity is reduced or destroyed in most cases by heating to 

 56° for 30 minutes.^ Almost any non-toxic soluble protein, however, 

 may be made toxic for animals by giving the animal a small dose of 

 this same protein at least eight days previously. This preliminary 

 dose, which may be extremely minute, ^ renders the animal hypersen- 

 sitive to the same protein, so that a relatively small quantity (a few 

 milligrams in the case of the guinea-pig) of an otherv.-ise entirely 

 harmless protein, such as eg^ white or milk, produces violent, often 

 fatal, symptoms when introduced into the blood of the animal. We 

 shall not discuss the general features of the reaction, its history and 

 its relation to biology and pathology, which are fully covered in many 

 easil}^ accessible reviews/'' but shall limit our consideration to the more 

 definitely chemical aspects of the reaction.^ 



The Substances Involved (Anaphylactogens). — As far as now 

 known, these are always proteins, and with the exception of gelatin^ 



^ The nature of the toxic agent is unknown, but there is reason to believe that 

 it is formed, at least in part, during the coagulation of the drawn blood. 



- Julian Lewis has found that if a very small amount of protein is injected at 

 the same time as a large dose of another foreign protein, no sensitization results 

 to the former; presumably the available cell receptors are occupied by the protein 

 given in larger amounts. (Jour. Infect. Dia., 1915 (17), 241.) 



^ Doerr, Kolle and Wa.ssermann's Handbuch, 1913, Vol. II; and Zeit. f. Im- 

 munitat., 1910; (2, ref.), 49; also v. Pirquct, Arch. Int. Med., 1911 (7), 259; 

 Friedmann, Jahresber. Ergeb. Immunitatfrsch., 1911 (6), 31; Schittenhelm, ibid., 

 p. 115; Hektoen, Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 1912 (.58), 1081; Zinsser, Arch. Int. 

 Med., 1915 (16), 223. Concerning anaphylaxis in man see Longcope, Amer. Jour. 

 Med. Sci., 1916 (152), 625. Concerning cutaneous reactions see Kolmer, Bull. 

 Johns Hopkins Hosp., 1917 (28), 163. 



■• Many of the chemical features of anaphylaxis I have covered in the following 

 series of articles: Jour. Inf. Dis., 1908 (5), 449; 1909 (6), 506; 1911 (8), 66; 1911 

 (9), 147; 1913 (12), 341; 1914 (14), 364 and 377; 1915 (17). 259; 1916 (19), 183. 



* Wells, Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 1908 (50), 527; Jour. Infect. Dis., 1908 (5), 

 459; Starin, Jour. Infect. Dis., 1918 (23), 139. 



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