The Passage of Meningococcic Agglutinins from the Blood to the Spinal Fluid of the Monkey

Agglutinins for the meningococcus were not found in the spinal fluid of normal monkeys which had received antimeningococcic serum intravenously. The intraspinal injection of isotonic salt solution, normal horse serum, or a culture of living meningococci allows agglutinins for the meningococcus to pass from the blood to the spinal fluid of the passively immunized monkey; and the rate of the passage is affected by the severity of the inflammation induced in the meninges. The rates of elimination from the blood and spinal canal of meningococcic antibodies, as shown by the agglutination reaction, were compared in monkeys treated with immune serum (a) intraspinally, (b) intravenously, and (c) intraspinally and intravenously in combination. (a) When immune serum is given intraspinally the agglutinins are very much diminished after 8 hours and practically disappear at 12 hours. They appear in the blood at the 4th hour after injection and quickly diminish. (b) After intravenous injection of immune serum, when the meninges are inflamed, agglutinins appear in the spinal fluid in small amounts in about 12 hours and increase to the 25th hour. More than one-half of the agglutinins disappear from the blood within 8 hours and remain in low concentration at 25 hours. (c) After combined intraspinal and intravenous injection the agglutinins remain in higher concentration in the spinal fluid and for a longer time than by method (a) or (b). The curve descends after 12 hours, and agglutinins are present at 25 hours. They remain in maximum concentration in the blood for 25 hours.