Univalent Antigen as Elicitor of Anaphylactic Reactions

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Abstract
The capability of monovalent antigens with appropriate molecular characteristics to elicit dermal anaphylactic reactions has been reaffirmed. This report deals mainly with the demonstration in vitro, through the use of sucrose density gradients, that the monovalent antigen employed remains functionally monovalent in its reaction with antibody, under circumstances that mimic those in the body (i.e., in the presence of albumin). Through a study of the ability of preformed antigen-antibody complexes to elicit immediate anaphylactic reactions in normal animals, it was shown that monovalent antigen lacks this capacity, whereas a divalent or multivalent antigen forms such active complexes. This latter evidence furthers our contention that the monovalent antigen remains so functionally, and is unable to form complexes in vitro of composition appropriate for biologic activity upon injection into animals, and it also supports the thesis discussed that anaphylactic reactions may come about through a variety of pathways, of which interaction of a single (monovalent) antigen with antibody at cell surfaces, in the absence of complement, is one.

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