Observations on Serological Reactions with Albumose Preparations.

Abstract

In continuation of the experiments briefly reported in this journal, 1 the following observations were made.

Immune sera prepared with azoheteroalbumose or azoprotoalbu-mose did not distinguish between the azocompounds of heteroal-bumose and protoalbumose of the same origin. There was a distinct specificity, however, with some immune sera in tests with azoalbumoses derived from different material such as horse serum, eggwhite or Witte peptone. The reactions just mentioned were inhibited by azoalbumoses, particularly those of the same origin as the material used for immunization.

Since in most of the experiments described, crude preparations were used, the question arises whether the precipitin reactions with the azoalbumose preparations are due to the albumoses themselves or to the presence of other substances, such as metaprotein or plas-tein. Evidence against the latter assumption is the fact that reactions were also obtained with azocompounds of purified hetero- and protoalbumose∗ from Witte peptone and that the reactions with azometaprotein and azoplastein were rather weaker than those given by the azoalbumoses.

By immunization with a crude preparation of heteroalbumose (not coupled with diazobenzene) made by peptic digestion of horse serum, immune sera were obtained which gave precipitin reactions of moderate strength with the substance used for immunization and furthermore with metaprotein, prepared by short peptic digestion of horse serum, and with unchanged horse serum. No reactions took place with heteroalbumoses made from egg white or Witte peptone. On the other hand, in conformity with previous work, 2 a common anti-horse serum precipitin reacted only with horse serum but not at all with the metaprotein and the heteroalbumose from horse serum.