Agglutinins and incomplete antibodies after a single antigenic inoculation in normal and rheumatic individuals.

It is well known that elevated levels of antibodies against various antigens of Group A pyogenic streptococci are found in rheumatic fever (Harris, 1948; Rantz and others, 1951). This phenomenon may be due to the increased immunologic reactivity of the macro-organism, to repeated natural infection by the micro-organism, or to the persistence of the micro-organism in the body of the host longer than in normal individuals. Several authors have already tried to establish that rheumatic subjects develop more antibodies than normal persons, even to antigens other than streptococcal. Creger, Choy, and Rantz (1951) found that patients with diseases in which immunologic pathogenesis is presumed produce antibodies in higher titres than controls, but their tests have the disadvantage of small numbers. Miller, Kibrick, and Massell (1953) found in rheumatic subjects only a slight elevation of titres after immunization in comparison with controls. They inferred that rheumatic fever cannot be explained by hyperreactivity. Quinn, Seastone, and Dickie (1953) immunized a restricted number of rheumatic subjects and controls with pneumococcus polysaccharides and measured the antibodies by quantitative precipitation. They found no substantial difference between the two groups. Other authors have shown the importance of incomplete antibodies in allergy (Coca and Grove, 1925; Miller and Campbell, 1947; Campbell and others, 1950; Sherman and others, 1950; Marrack, 1951; Kuhns and Pappenheimer, 1952); many regard allergy as a pre-eminent factor in the development of rheumatism (Weintraud, 1913; Klinge, 1933; Talalajew, 1933, 1936; Rossle, 1933; Albertini and Grumbach, 1933; Alpern, 1934; Aikawa, 1945). In the present investigation the immunological reactivity of rheumatic subjects was examined by studying the levels of complete and incomplete antibodies after a single administration of nonstreptococcal antigens. A group of individuals past the acute stage of rheumatism and an adequate control group were immunized with the Brucella abortus.