A Study of Complement Fixation in Syphilis with Spirochæta Culture Antigens

It is our purpose in this communication to give the results of some work upon complement fixation in syphilitic and other sera, using specific antigens prepared from pure cultures of Spirochceta pallida, Spirochceta pertenuis, and Spirochceta microdentia. The results are compared with those obtained with the same sera and a stock antigen used in our routine Wassermann tests, this antigen consisting of an alcoholic extract of syphilitic fetal liver. It is now recognized by most authorities that the Wassermann reaction in syphilis is not a true antigen-antibody reaction, but depends upon certain lipotropic substances produced in the tissues of syphilitics during the progress of the disease. The researches of Landsteiner, Miiller, and P6tzl (I) , and Porges and Meier (2) demonstrated that alcoholic extracts of normal as well as syphilitic tissues served as antigens, while those of Noguchi and Bronfen-brenner (3) proved that the active principles in the antigens used in the Wassermann test were present in the lipoidal substances found in extracts from both syphilitic and non=syphilitic tissues of man and other animals. The success attained by Noguchi and others in obtaining Spiro-chceta pallida in pure culture gave rise to the hope that an antigen prepared from such cultures would be efficient in complement fixa-tion in syphilis and would place the test upon the basis of a true antigen-antibody reaction. It is obvious that if such a specific antigen could be obtained the value of the Wassermann test, great