Studies on the Physiology of Anaphylactic Shock

[摘要] Anaphylactic shock in the rat can be produced with a certain regularity. The rat is susceptible only during a rather short time, between the tenth and fifteenth day after sensitization. The symptoms are relatively mild; no fatalities have been observed in our experiments, and around one-half of the animals did not show any symptoms. This refers to rats of 120 to 150 g weight and fed a complete diet. The reaction is specific; an antigen to which the rat has not been prepared does not provoke symptoms.Sensitization with 1–2 mg of protein divided in several injections seems as effective as a hundredfold of this dose. Multiple injections seem necessary.Thiamin (Vitamin B1) deficiency does not alter the reactivity of the rat to shock.Treatment of the rats with medium doses (20 mg per day) of ascorbic acid simultaneously with the sensitizing injections leads to a greater severity of anaphylactic shock. A fatal anaphylaxis has been observed in this group.Thyroxin, given shortly before the test injection, also enhances the severity of the shock.A combination of both—ascorbic acid during sensitization and thyroxin before shock—gives the most severe anaphylaxis observed in our experiments.The differences in the reaction of the rat and the guinea pig in anaphylaxis are in degree rather than in kind. It is possible that they depend upon variations in the functions of the adrenal cortices of the two animals.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）