IMMUNOCHEMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF HORSE BOTULINAL ANTITOXINS

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Abstract
Botulinal antitoxins prepared in Japan and in the U. S. A. were compared by immunoelectrophoresis and physiological tests. Physiological tests in guinea pigs were inconclusive in delineation of differences; however, antisera from rabbits immunized with the two antitoxins indicated significant differences in the equine antigens present in the two antitoxins. The Japanese antitoxin contained fewer non-antibody antigens, and the quantity of protein per therapeutic unit was apparently less than that of the American antitoxin; hence it appears that there is an immunochemical basis for claims that no case of serum sickness has been observed with the Japanese antitoxin. Study of cross reactions between the antitoxins indicated that the Japanese antitoxin had been subjected to greater purification than had the American antitoxin. The Japanese antitoxin appeared to have been freed of most antigenic protein except some α-globulins and fragments of γ-globulins responsible for antitoxic activity. The differences may have resulted from heat coagulation in the presence of ammonium sulfate after only mild proteolysis in the Japanese procedure. We, therefore, recommend that a procedure utilizing preliminary heat coagulation after mild peptic digestion be employed in the production of equine antisera for human use.