544 ANAPHYLAXIS 



vegetable oils and fats. Bogomolex 1 is less conservative, and believes 

 that he has succeeded in producing lipoid anaphylaxis; these claims, 

 however, could not be confirmed by Thiele and Embleton. 2 Meyer 3 

 was able to sensitize pigs with pure lipoids extracted from tape-worms, 

 but was unable to intoxicate them with the same extracts, results that 

 may be understood, since White and Avery 4 have shown that as little 

 as 0.0001 milligram of edestin will serve to sensitize a pig, whereas 

 larger amounts of protein more than is contained in Meyer's prepara- 

 tions are necessary to produce intoxication. Finally, the studies of 

 Wilson 5 and White 6 leave no doubt as to the fact that pure lipoids 

 cannot produce anaphylaxis. 



It is possible, however, for non-protein substances to combine with 

 or alter the proteins of an animal and thus cause anaphylaxis. In this 

 way can be explained apparent anaphylactic reactions to iron, salvarsan, 

 iodin, arsenic compounds, and other medicinal agents. 



Chemistry of Protein Anaphylactogens. The purest known proteins 

 act as anaphylactogens or sensitizers; in fact, the purer the protein, 

 the more thoroughly it sensitizes the animal and the smaller is the dose 

 necessary to produce intoxication. The crystallized proteins of hemo- 

 globin, egg-albumen, and such pure vegetable proteins as edestin and 

 excelsin, are powerful sensitizers. According to Wells, 7 nothing less 

 than an entire protein molecule will suffice to produce anaphylaxis, 

 although Zunz 8 claims to have observed typical reactions with the pro- 

 teoses of fibrin, and Abderhalden 9 obtained one with a synthetic poly- 

 peptid. It is not necessary, however, for a protein, in order to be active, 

 to contain all the known amino-acids of proteins, for certain vegetable 

 proteins, e. g., hordein and gliadin, which lack one or more amino-acids, 

 such as glycocoll or tryptophane, may produce typical reactions. Pre- 

 sumably, the inability of pseudoproteins, such as gelatin, to act as 

 anaphylactogens depends upon their deficiency in aromatic radicals. 



Wells has obtained negative results with purified nucleoproteins, as 

 well as with the isolated components of nucleins, such as histon and 

 nucleic acid. 



1 Zeitschr. f. Immunitatsf., 1910, v, 121, ibid, 1910, vi, 332. 



2 Zeitschr. f. Immunitatsf., 1913, xvi, 160. 



3 Folia Serologica, 1911, vii, 771; Zeitschr. f. Immunitatsf., 1914, xxi, 654. 



4 Jour. Infect. Dis., 1913, xiii, 103. 



5 Jour. Path, and Bact., 1913, xviii, 163. 



6 Jour. Med. Res., 1914, xxx, 383. 7 Jour. Infect., Dis. 1913, xii, 341. 



8 Zeitschr. f. Immunitatsf., 1913, 60, 580. 



9 Zeitschr. physiol. Chem., 1912, 81, 314. 



