Analyses of Composite Antigens by the Schultz-Dale Technic; Further Experimental Analyses of Trichophytins

[摘要] The trichophytins represent mixtures of antigens derived from the fungi used in their preparation. The trichophytins prepared from four different pathogenic hyphomycetes contained one or more antigens in common.It is not yet possible to determine whether this antigen, or one of the antigens, was a hyphomycete-antigen common to and exclusively present in fungi of this order. Occasionally, oidiomycin also elicited a reaction in an animal prepared with trichophytin. Only doubtful reactions to trichophytin were seen in guinea pigs prepared with oidiomycin. Hyphomycetes and oidiomycetes thus contain common antigens; these antigens, however, were only rarely demonstrable under the conditions of our experiments.Furthermore, antigens were demonstrated which are characteristic of the individual fungus; and finally, antigens which certain groups of different hyphomycetes have in common. We have thus come to the understanding that it is necessary to establish antigenic formulae for the various fungi and for the various trichophytins; and we have set up provisional formulae for the four different trichophytins studied.On the basis of such formulae, it should be possible (even if very tedious) to establish an immunologic classification of the fungi by means of antigen analyses. This might be of greater clinical value than a botanical classification, for the presence or absence of certain antigens should be of greater immuno-biologic and therefore clinical importance than certain botanical and morphologic characteristics. The beginning of such a classification has here been made, and represents, simply, the following:![Figure][1]It would be of theoretical and especially of practical interest if it were possible to prepare solutions which contain only a single antigen characteristic of the given fungus. We had hoped that, based on analogy, this isolation of the characteristic antigen might be possible if we employed, respectively, either only the fungal bodies or the culture medium from which the bodies had been removed by filtration. This did not prove to be the case. For desiccated trichophytins from filtered media, as well as those from washed fungal bodies, were also shown to be complex mixtures and to contain several different antigens. [1]: pending:yes

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）