Relationship of the Antigenic Structure of Sputum and Tracheobronchial Mucosa1,2

Abstract
Antiserum prepared in rabbits by injecting human tracheobronchial mucosa has been used to study antigens in the sputum and serum of patients with chronic bronchial disease. Although antibodies to serum proteins are demonstrable by agar diffusion and immunoelectrophoretic methods, there is at least one unique antigen in sputum. In some patients a distinct precipitin line developed between the patient''s serum and sputum in agar diffusion. The relationship of these findings to an autoimmune hypothesis about the etiology of bronchial disease is discussed.

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