246 FERMENTS AND ANTIFERMENTS 



of an enzyme, because the molecule first attacked is not injured. How- 

 ever, as Adami points out, the toxins may be equally active in the body 

 until arrested by antitoxins, although experiments in vitro clearly demon- 

 strate the greater activity of the ferments. 



8. Even in serum hemolysis it would appear that a lipolytic ferment 

 is vitally concerned. According to Jobling and Bull, 1 the end-piece of 

 split complement contains a lipolytic ferment. These observers be- 

 lieve that a parallelism exists between lipase content and complement 

 activity of the serums of various animals. As will be pointed out further 

 on, the complements possess many properties resembling those of the 

 ferments, and many factors are being established to show the important 

 relation that lipoids and lipases bear to immunologic processes. 



ANTIFERMENTS 



According to some investigators, antiferments are to be found in large 

 amounts in all normal serums, and are probably vitally concerned in the 

 processes of life in preventing autodigestion. That they may be in- 

 creased in number artificially by immunization up to a certain limit 

 has been disputed; it is certain that they never attain the extreme 

 amounts possible with the injection of toxins. This may be due to the 

 formation of anti-anti-enzymes, produced by a regulating mechanism 

 that prevents anti-enzymes from accumulating beyond a certain point 

 and interfering with nutrition. It is possible that the body mechanism 

 exerts a strict regulating effect between the formation of enzymes and 

 anti-enzymes. Furthermore, when free receptors, such as normal 

 anti-enzymes, are present in the body-fluids, the body-cells are not 

 stimulated to produce these anti-enzymes in excess, nor does the pres- 

 ence of the free receptors stimulate the cells to produce anti-bodies 

 against their normal side-chains. 



Many investigators claim to have produced antiferments experi- 

 mentally. Morgenroth 2 believed that he obtained a specific antirennin 

 by inoculating goats with rennin. Sachs 3 and Achaline 4 assert that they 

 have produced specific antipepsin or antitrypsin by inoculating animals 

 with these ferments. Antisteapsin and antilactase have been prepared 

 by Schutze, 5 antityrosinase by Gessard, 6 and antiurease by Moll. 7 



On the other hand, these observations have not been generally con- 



1 Jour. Exper. Med., 1913, xvii, 61. 2 Centralbl. f. Bakteriol., 1899, xxvi, 349. 

 3 Fortschr. d. Med., 1902, 20, 425. 4 Ann. de Flnst. Pasteur, 1901, xv, 737. 

 5 Zeitschr. f. Hygiene, 1904, 48, 457; Deutsch. med. Wochen., 1904, 30, 308. 

 6 Ann. de 1'Inst. Pasteur, 1901, 15. 7 Hofmeister's Beitr., 1902, 2. 



