Double diffusion in gel reactions with antigens insoluble in aqueous media.

Ethanol-soluble, but saline-insoluble antigens were prepared as saline suspensions and studied in double diffusion reactions in a soft agarose gel. Positive reactions were observed with syphilis and SLE sera tested against the Kahn antigen as well as against commercial cardiolipin reagents. Also, ethanol-soluble brain antigen was studied for organ-specific reactions with rabbit immune sera.

"Heterophile" antigen in sera of human recipients of renal allografts.

It was noted that many sera of patients with renal allograft produce distinct precipitation lines in gel diffusion tests with about 20% of infectious mononucleosis sera. The antibodies in infectious mononucleosis sera were of IgM isotope, but, interestingly, they could be removed by guinea pig kidney homogenate, which indicated that the reactions studied were of the Hanganutziu-Deicher rather than of the Paul-Bunnell type. This contention was strengthened by the fact that positive transplantation sera reacted also with standard serum with Hanganutziu-Deicher antibodies.

Studies on heterophile antibodies in transplantation sera.

By means of double diffusion in gel reactions, "heterophile" antibodies were demonstrated in human renal transplantation sera. Of thirty-two recipients of renal allografts, 12 (37 per cent) had antibodies to extract of bovine erythrocyte stromata, and 5 (19 per cent) of 26 recipients produced antibodies to extract of sheep erythrocyte stromata. These antibodies became detectable 1-6 months after transplantation and persisted for several months or years.

Double diffusion in gel tests with Paul-Bunnell antibodies of infectious mononucleosis sera.

Double diffusion tests in gel were employed for studies of reactions between infectious mononucleosis sera and extracts of bovine, sheep and equine erythrocyte stromata. The extracts were obtained by ultrasonication of stromata prepared from trypsin-digested erythrocytes. The reaction with bovine stroma extract was composed, in many instances, of two lines.