Abstract
Summary
The gel filtration technique was used to fractionate samples of sera from 6 individuals infected with S. mansoni. The gel used, Sephadex G-200, allows the separation of serum into 3 fractions. The individuals studied showed a marked increase in the 7 S globulins. The specific antibody which was present in the serum of these individuals and which has been found to react with the S. mansoni ova yielding a positive circumoval precipitin test was found to be a normal size gamma globulin with a sedimentation coefficient of 6.6 S and a molecular weight close to 200,000. Partial enzymatic hydrolysis of this protein was found to alter its immunologic properties, rendering the circumoval test negative after incubation with reactive ova, indicating that the chemical integrity of this protein is needed to yield a positive circumoval reaction.
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