92 PROTEIN THERAPY 



the protein cachexia to which Weichardt has called attention may 

 result. 



Antibodies. The effect of the nonspecific injections on the mobili- 

 zation of specific antibodies has been studied by a number of ob- 

 servers. Ludke had observed that proteose injection would mobilize 

 antibodies in immune animals and introduced proteose injections in 

 patients on this basis. He was not able to determine a constant in- 

 crease, however, no matter what the clinical result of the injection. 

 In a more recent paper he states that in general the agglutinin titer 

 is markedly increased in the typhoid cases that he had injected, 

 and that there is an increase in the bactericidal property of the serum. 

 As has been stated in a previous chapter the results in this regard are 

 conflicting. 



Recently, Larson has published some experimental work bearing 

 on this point. He proceeded on the theory that many bacteria such 

 as streptococci, pneumococci, etc., are imperfect antigens, correspond- 

 ing to the heated tetanus toxin, the toxoid; that during a streptococcus 

 infection such as an acute arthritis, antibodies are formed against the 

 streptococci, but as this organism does not possess the second stimu- 

 lus the exfoliative stimulus that is necessary to cause the antibodies 

 to be cast off into the blood stream, not sufficient immunity is estab- 

 lished to overcome the infection. This stimulus, Larson assumes, is 

 supplied by the nonspecific agent the vaccine, foreign serum, pro- 

 teose, etc. In other words, the stimulus necessary to cause the cells 

 to produce the antibodies is specific, but the stimulus causing the 

 cells to throw off the antibodies is not necessarily specific. Using 

 rabbits immunized to sheep's corpuscles Larson found that the in- 

 jection of foreign proteins greatly augmented the antibody content of 

 rabbits that had only a very low antibody content before the in- 

 jection. On the other hand, if a rabbit had originally responded 

 with a high concentration of antibodies the secondary injection of 

 a foreign protein did not further increase the antibodies present in 

 the serum. 



From these premises Larson draws the conclusion that the in- 

 jection of foreign protein enables the organism to throw off the so- 

 called sessile antibodies and get them into the circulation. In view 

 of these facts, it is possible that the various agents may act as 

 stimulants of the hematopoietic tissue, thus suddenly flooding the 

 body with immune substances, thereby overcoming the infection. 

 According to Wright, vaccine injections were supposed to be followed 

 by a negative phase, at least so far as the opsonic power was con- 

 cerned. Contrary to this generally accepted view, Bull has recently 

 shown that this does not hold true following the intravenous injection 

 of a typhoid vaccine in immunized rabbits. Bull noticed that the 

 antibodies were not diminished; on the contrary, they were rapidly 

 increased following the injection. If this is the mechanism involved, 



