Parallelism in the Lethal and Hemolytic Activity of the Toxin of Clostridium Septicum

The relation of the lethal toxin to the hemolysin produced by Clostridium septicum, strain 44, has been investigated. The following results suggest that the hemolytic and lethal actions of crude toxin are functions of a single substance or that they are functions of two substances which have similar physical, chemical, and antigenic properties. (1) Within the limits of experimental error, the lethal activity of cultures is directly proportional to their hemolytic activity. (2) Treatment of a culture supernate with hydrogen peroxide diminishes to the same extent its hemolytic and lethal activities. (3) The hemolytic principle and the lethal toxin are adsorbed to approximately the same extent by charcoal. (4) The hemolytic principle and the lethal toxin are adsorbed to approximately the same extent by kaolin. (5) Treatment of culture supernate with erythrocytes results in the removal of most of the lethal activity as well as of most of the hemolytic activity. (6) Both lethal toxin and hemolytic principle are partially destroyed in dilute solution at 36 degrees C. The loss in lethal and hemolytic activities occurs in parallel. (7) The lethal and hemolytic activities of cultures are found to be inseparable by fractional precipitation with ammonium sulfate. (8) The antihemolytic capacity of antitoxic horse serum is found to be directly proportional to the antilethal capacity.