Complement Fixation Tests with Homologous and Heterologous Types of Coxsackie Virus in Man

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Abstract
Summary: The results of complement fixation tests in human sera using nine antigenically distinct Coxsackie, or C, viruses are presented. In five proven cases of C virus infection among laboratory personnel, homologous complement fixing (c.f.) antibodies were produced as a result of infection. At the same time, however, a variable number of heterologous c.f. antibodies also showed significant rises in titer together with the homologous type. In 42 patients with paralytic and nonparalytic poliomyelitis in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1949, and in 32 such individuals in Cincinnati and Akron, Ohio, in 1947, it was found that the C virus antibody patterns could not be related to: Paralytic or nonparalytic type of illness. Success or failure to isolate Coxsackie viruses. Success or failure to isolate poliomyelitis virus. The relationship between complement fixing and neutralizing antibodies in man is not clear from this study. It is true that when a particular C virus is isolated from a patient, he shows immunologic evidence of the specific infection by both the c.f. and neutralization tests, even though heterologous c.f. antibodies may also appear. But when infection cannot be proved by virus isolation, then there appears to be no consistent correlation between the presence or absence of the two kinds of antibodies. Possible mechanisms of the rises in heterologous complement fixing antibodies are discussed.