XLIV. THE JOINT ACTION OF NORMAL AND IMMUNE 

 AMBOCEPTORS IN HAEMOLYSIS, 1 



By Dr. HANS SACHS. 



PFEIFFER AND FRIEDBERGER 2 have recently published some 

 very interesting observations concerning the antibacteriolytic 

 action of normal sera. They find, for example, that normal sera 

 which in themselves possess no antilytic power, acquire such power 

 on digesting them with bacteria. Curiously also, the sera thus 

 treated become specifically antilytic, so that a serum treated with 

 cholera vibrios acquires inhibiting properties only against the bacte- 

 riolysis of these organisms; a serum treated with typhoid bacilli 

 protects only typhoid bacilli against bacteriolysis. 



How is this action to be explained? So far as we know from 

 past experiences, antilytic substances in serum may be either anti- 

 amboceptors or anticomplements. The data contained in the 

 experiments of Pfeiffer and Friedberger leave no room for doubt 

 that antiamboceptors may be excluded; the authors, however, 

 also declare their disbelief in anticomplements as the cause of the 

 antilytic action, and feel themselves compelled to postulate the 

 existence of new, hitherto unknown substances. 



We have carefully studied the experiments reported and believe 

 that two possible explanations present themselves. Thus we may 

 believe that the antilysins in question are anticomplements, which 

 in the native serum, are covered, i.e., hidden, by normal serum 

 constitutents. In the digestion with bacteria, these normal con- 

 stituents are removed (amboceptors) . The other possibility is 

 that through the treatment with bacteria the bacterial receptors 

 are liberated in the serum and there functionate as antiamboceptors. 

 This has already been suggested by Besredka 3 . It is obvious that 



1 Reprinted from Deutsche med. Wochenschrift, No. 18, 1905. 



2 Pfeiffer and Friedberger, Deutsche med. Wochenschr., No. 1, 1905. 



3 Besredka, Bulletin Pasteur, T. iii, 1905. 



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