Medicine.

Date:
[1919?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Medicine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/454 page 5
    What are the Substances in Immune Serum which give rise to its Protective Properties 1 They are known as antibodies; and the toxins or organ¬ isms upon which they act are called antigens. In the case of toxins the antibody is antitoxin; in the case of organisms there are several antibodies, bacteriolysins, opsonins, agglutinins, and precipitins. Have the Bacteriolytic Substances an Independent Action ? No; they act only in the presence of complement, an unstable body contained in normal serum. The effect of an immune serum depends upon the immune body (bacteriolytic substance) which it contains, in conjunction with normal complement. The immune body links this complement to the organism to be attacked, and hence is also called amboceptor or copula. How do Opsonins produce their Effect, ? They are substances in the serum which sensitise organisms introduced into it in such a way that they become more readily ingested and destroyed by the polymorpho nuclear leucocytes (phagocytes). This process is known as phagocytosis. Opsonins exist in normal serum, but are more numerous in immune serum. What is the Artion of Agglutinins ? Agglutinins are substances developed in an immune serum. When such a serum is added to an emulsion of the living organisms, these, instead of remaining separate, tend to run together and form clumps. The serum of those who suffer from a particular infection agglutinates the causative organism. What is the Action of Precipitins ? These bodies, also found in an immune serum, precipitate the bacterial substances from the clear filtrate obtained
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