Anti-gamma globulins and chronic infection: comparative studies of the immune response to various bacteria and gamma globulin preparations.

A study of the relationship of clinical states associated with prolonged infection (bacterial endocarditis and osteomyelitis) and generation of serum anti-gamma globulins was made with particular reference to quantitative amounts of staphylococcal protein A in various infecting strains. No correlation between individual strain amounts of protein A and presence of anti-gamma globulins was detected. Thirty-eight rabbits were immunized intravenously with various strains of bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, enterococci, Streptomyces viridans, pneumococci, pseudomonas, and Escherichia coli) for periods of 6 weeks, and antibacterial as well as anti-gamma globulin antibodies were assayed. No single group or strain of bacteria stood out as being more prone to produce anti-gamma globulins than others tested. Most rabbits developed anti-gamma globulins reacting with human gamma globulins, whereas the specificity for rabbit gamma globulin appeared more restricted. In 16 rabbits immunized with eight different strains of S. aureus, quantitative elevation of serum gamma globulin above 2.5 g per 100 ml often seemed to be correlated with presence of detectable serum anti-gamma globulins. By contrast 15 rabbits immunized with autologous or isologous rabbit gamma globulins in many instances developed extremely high titers of anti-gamma globulins showing primary specificity for human rather than rabbit gamma globulin. These studies further amplify the remarkably heterogeneous anti-gamma globulin reactivity associated with various types of immune response.