Abstract
The relation of tuberculin hypersensitiveness and resistance to tuberculosis has long been in dispute. Austrian 1 concluded that the state of hypersensitiveness to tuberculin protein afforded no protection against subsequent tuberculous infection and was even harmful. Krause and Willis 2 observed some lowered resistance to infection in animals sensitized to tuberculo-protein and more definitely in animals inoculated while suffering with anaphylactic shock. Their animals showed no cutaneous sensitivity. Nevertheless, they 3 attributed the usual state of resistance to reinfection in tuberculous animals directly to the effect of the allergic inflammatory reaction. Rich and McCordock 4 opposed this view on the basis of observations on experimental animals and human beings. Sabin, Smithburn and Geiger 5 noted no beneficial effect of the hypersensitive state on the course of experimental tuberculosis. Myers 6 and Stewart 7 have recently emphasized the predisposing effect of allergy for the development of adult type of tuberculosis. It has been shown 8 that upon repeated injections of sufficient quantity of highly antigenic preparations of tuberculin protein guinea pigs and rabbits will react cutaneously not only to this protein fraction, but also to the active material isolated from Old Tuberculin. It seemed desirable, therefore, to study the effect of this high degree of hypersensitiveness upon the tuberculous process.
Seventeen guinea pigs were sensitized with a tuberculin protein fraction, TPT, 8 by weekly intracutaneous injections of 10 mg. Six of these died from intercurrent infection before significant tuberculous changes developed, and are omitted from the accompanying table. The first injection elicited very little, if any, cutaneous reaction; the next few injections were followed first by small and finally by large pale edematous reactions.
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