STANDARDIZATION OF ANTIVENINE II. A METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF ANTIHEMORRHAGIC POTENCY OF HABU ANTIVENINE IN THE PRESENCE OF TWO HEMORRHAGIC PRINCIPLES AND THEIR ANTIBODIES

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Two hemorrhagic principles known to be present in the crude venom, being indistinguishable in hemorrhagic action on the rabbit skin, are distinct from each other in immunological specificity, and two antibodies corresponding to the individual principles are present in different proportions in preparations of Habu antivenine. An authentic method for accurate assay of the antihemorrhagic potency of Habu antivenine was proposed. The method includes the separate use of the two hemorrhagic principles as test toxins, and the establishment of a standard antivenine for each of the two antihemorrhagic activities. The potency of an antivenine under test is determined and expressed in terms of the relative potency to the standard antivenines. By using this assay method the mechanism involved in titration of the antivenine potency in the presence of multiple hemorrhagic principles and their corresponding antibodies was elucidated. It was found that either of the two antihemorrhagic activities is determined depending on the proportion of the two principles in test toxin and on that of the two antibodies in an antivenine preparation. Therefore the determination of the antihemorrhagic potency of Habu antivenine can be justified only when the two hemorrhagic principles are used separately as test toxins instead of the crude venom.