Abstract
Summary
A single iv injection of zymosan (100 mg/ml) lowered the mortality of rats to drum shock 72 hours following injection; similar glucan injections (100 mg/ml) did not affect the shock mortality. Heat-stable complement fixing antibodies were present in serum from zymosan-treated rats; serum from glucan-treated rats had elevated complement titers. Intravenous passive transfer of whole serum from both zymosan- and glucan-injected rats to normal recipient rats lowered the mortality to subsequent drum shock in both groups of recipients; in neither recipient group was there any effect on carbon clearance when compared to saline-injected controls. There appears to be a correlation between serum antibody levels in zymosan-treated rats and passive-transfer shock mortality. The results suggest that in rats injected with zymosan or glucan, immune mechanisms may be concerned with their resistance to subsequent traumatic shock.
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