Immune-Adherence with Leptospira Antigens

[摘要] A procedure has been presented by means of which Leptospira antigens have been tested in the immune-adherence (I-A) system. Extensive re-adherence was found to occur after mechanical disruption of the I-A bond, although it diminished in completeness when disruption was repeated several times. In the presence of a great excess of antiserum, complement fixation by antigen-antibody-complexes was found to occur at 1–5°C. Antigen-antibody-complement complexes formed in this manner, after being washed in the cold, were capable of adhering to erythrocytes in the absence of additional antiserum or complement. Antigen-antibody-complement complexes were prevented by normal serum from adhering to erythrocytes at low temperature, but not at 37°C. In the presence of a high concentration of antiserum, I-A was demonstrated to occur in the presence of fresh guinea pig or human complement diluted as much as 1:5120. The I-A reaction was found to be sufficiently sensitive that humoral antibodies against leptospirae could be detected within 40 hr after the initial injection of a rabbit with the homologous antigen.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）