Abstract
Tests were performed by six different methods upon 500 identical specimens from 457 patients. Three antigens were employed, cholesterinized alcoholic extract of beef heart, simple alcoholic extract of beef heart and the acetone-insoluble lipoid fraction of alcoholic extract of beef heart, prepared according to the method of Noguchi. Each of these antigens was used at two different incubation temperatures for fixation of the complement, 37° C. and 8° C., the subsequent incubation after addition of sensitized erythrocytes being carried out at the higher temperature.
Upon known syphilitics, the cholesterinized antigen at 8° C. gave the largest number of positive reactions, being followed, in order of efficiency, by the plain antigen at 8° C., cholesterinized antigen at 37° C., acetone-insoluble antigen at 8° C., the same at 37° C., and last the plain antigen at 37° C.
Reactions considered to be false positives were obtained eight times with the cholesterinized antigen at 37° C., five times with the cholesterinized antigen at 8° C., and once with the plain antigen at 8° C., in this series of 500 tests.
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