Agglutinins Produced by the Injection of Related and Unrelated Antigens.

Abstract

In making observations upon the formation of agglutinins in response to injection with typhoid vaccine it was noted that there was a wide individual variation in the response. Some students who had repeatedly received typhoid vaccine on previous occasions failed to develop agglutinins when injected with typhoid vaccine in this department. Others who had never received typhoid vaccine previously developed high titers. The problem presented itself of determining whether this difference was due to a more responsive antibody-forming mechanism in general or due only to the individual's response to a particular antigen.

Forty-five students were given the routine 3 doses of TAB vaccine, and in addition were given 3 doses of a vaccine containing Staphylococcus aureus and a coccus isolated from the blood of a case of measles by Drs. Duval and Hibbard. Macroscopic agglutination tests were performed for all 5 of the above organisms before injection, and again 10 days after the last dose of vaccine.

A glance at the parallel agglutination tests gave the impression that there was absolutely no relation between the ability to produce typhoid agglutinins and staphylococcus agglutinins, the latter being of course entirely unrelated to the typhoid bacillus. The impression was confirmed by the correlation coefficient (-.00031 ± .101). On the other hand there appeared to be a high degree of relation between the ability to produce typhoid and B. paratyphosus A agglutinins, which are related antigens. This was likewise confirmed by the correlation coefficient (+.302 ± .091). Unfortunately the B. paratyphosw B and the measles coccus were poor antigens, failing to stimulate a sufficient amount of agglutinins from which to draw conclusions.

These observations would seem to indicate that the response of an individual to an antigen depends not so much upon a sensitive immunity mechanism in general as to the sensitivity of the individual to the particular antigen.