Abstract
Every intradermal injection is intralymphatic and infectious agents introduced by way of a skin wound may reach the lymphatic glands directly. 1 , 2 Specific bacterial agglutinins are formed in the nodes draining the ears of mice into which killed cultures of bacteria have been injected intradermally. 3 Experiments now show that the lymph nodes elaborate a principle capable of neutralizing a virus draining to them.
Rabbits were inoculated intradermally in one ear with a standard amount of vaccine virus and in the other with typhoid bacterin. Thirty-two experiments were done. In half of these the ears were amputated after an hour, while in the others the ears were left intact. After later intervals of from 2 hours to 15 days the cervical lymph nodes of both sides, inguinal nodes, bone marrow and spleen were removed and extracts of them were inoculated separately into 3 or 6 normal rabbits (as was serum procured from the same animals at the same time) to test for their content of virus (titration tests). In addition neutralization tests were set up to learn whether these extracts possessed antiviral properties.
Only the extracts of the ears and cervical lymph nodes of the virus-injected side gave rise to virus lesions. A few hours after the injection of standard amounts of virus in the ears equal amounts of virus were recovered from the lymph nodes. By the second or third day an increase in virus was demonstrable in the extracts of the nodes on the virus-injected side. A rapid decline took place thereafter and by the 7th to the 9th days the extracts failed to produce lesions. At no time did the serum or extracts from other nodes or organs give evidence of virus.
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