Absorption of Antigens from Body Surfaces

Abstract

The appearance of agglutinins in the blood 3 weeks after oral vaccination with typhoid antigen was followed in 85 non-febrile dispensary and ablatory patients. Most patients were from orthopedic surgical clinics. One gram of desiccated ox-bile in gelatin capsules was given with a glass of warm water upon rising in the morning. After 30 minutes the typhoid antigen was administered in a glass of warm water. In one series of 24 subjects, 1 cc. of standard typhoid vaccine (Lilly) was administered. In another series 2 cc. of bacteriophage dissolved B. typhosus was administered. The meal was withheld from the subjects for 2 hours after the typhoid antigen was given by mouth. This was repeated each morning for 3 consecutive doses in each series.

Blood was taken from subjects before experiments were started. All showing the presence of agglutinins against typhoid antigen were eliminated. Three weeks after the oral ingestion of the antigen, blood was again drawn and the agglutination tests performed upon the serum. The accompanying table gives the results.

Bile was given before the oral administration. Arnold1 explained the influence of bile upon permeability of the intestinal tract in the light of his experimental work. The results reported here seem to show that dissolved B. typlzosus proteins are more efficient than standard typhoid vaccine for oral immunization.