THE USE OF HISTAMINE AS A STANDARD TEST FOR DIMINISHED RESISTANCE IN SUPRARENALECTOMIZED RATS

IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDIES IN RELATION TO THE SUPRARENAL GLAND : II. HEMOLYSIN FORMATION IN SUPRARENALECTOMIZED RATS

In a large series of suprarenalectomized rats, hemolysin formation, to a fixed amount of sheep cells injected intraperitoneally (1 cc. of a 10 per cent suspension), was studied 48 hours, 7, 14 and 28 days after operation. The hemolysin formation was studied in suprarenalectomized rats injected 2 weeks following the operation, with one-twentieth and ten times this amount. Hemolysin formation in rats traumatized by tearing the perisuprarenal tissue and injected 2 weeks after the operation with 1 cc. of a 10 per cent suspension of sheep cells was studied and the results compared with those in the normal control rats. The effect of the operative procedure was controlled by removing one kidney in a series of rats and determining the antibody response to sheep cells. 1. Bilateral suprarenalectomy in rats subsequently injected intraperitoneally with 1 cc. of a 10 per cent suspension of sheep cells resulted in a depression of hemolysin titer during 5 weeks following the operation, the depression being most marked during the 1st week. 2. Bilaterally suprarenalectomized rats injected intraperitoneally 2 weeks after operation with 1 cc. of undiluted sheep cells gave hemolysin titers higher than did normal rats. 3. The quantity of antigen necessary to yield the maximum titer in suprarenalectomized rats 2 weeks after operation is ten times the quantity necessary to yield the same titer in normal rats. 4. Traumatization of the perisuprarenal tissue in rats produced the same effect on the antibody-forming capacity as suprarenalectomy.

The effect of adrenocorticotropic hormone on inflammation due to tuberculin hypersensitivity and turpentine and on circulating antibody levels

The treatment with adrenocorticotropic hormone of guinea pigs sensitized with heat-killed tubercle bacilli caused suppression of their skin reactivity to tuberculin. Similar animals treated with saline did not show this change. Normal guinea pigs treated with adrenocorticotropic hormone showed suppression of inflammation, but not necrosis, produced by intracutaneous oil of turpentine. There was slight, but probably not significant, diminution of inflammation during saline administration. Tuberculin complement-fixing antibody titers were not altered by either adrenocorticotropic hormone or saline administration. Adrenocorticotropic hormone produced marked eosinopenia and lymphopenia in guinea pigs.

THE EFFECT OF BILATERAL SUPRARENALECTOMY IN ADULT ALBINO RATS ON THE NATURAL AND ACQUIRED RESISTANCE TO BARTONELLA MURIS ANEMIA

Normal adult Wistar rats (non-carrier stock) are readily infected with Bartonella muris and develop a severe anemia if large amounts of infecting material are used. The normal adult rat of Wistar stock possesses a relatively high natural resistance to spontaneous infection with this organism. Bilateral suprarenalectomy in Wistar rats lowers the natural resistance to a subsequent infection with Bartonella muris. This procedure does not alter the type of tissue response to the virus but lowers the natural resistance of the rat to toxic effects of the infection. The acquired immunity to Bartonella muris conferred by a first infection is not broken down by subsequent suprarenalectomy. The mechanisms of acquired and natural resistance are dependent on different physiological processes in the organism and are not merely quantitative variations of the same process as is generally assumed.