[Immunological and immunotherapeutic studies on the model of mice following thermic injury ].

A burn toxin, which is discussed as reason of the burn disease by Schoenenberger et al., was isolated from burned skin of mice and the immunological reactions to this antigen were evaluated in burned mice longitudinally at several intervals after the trauma. We determined the specific antibodies against the burn toxin by means of the passive hemagglutination test, the burn toxin binding cells by means of the antigen specific rosette technique and the cell-mediated immunity using the macrophage electrophoretic mobility test (MEM-test). A rise of the burn toxin-specific cells could be observed with maximum at day 4 and a cell-mediated immunity between day 11 and day 13. Antibody titre was on the background about an interval of 3 weeks. Pretreatment with burn toxin or posttraumatic i. p. application of antibodies against burn toxin from rabbits eliminated primary death of mice with lethal burns. No correlation seemed to exist between the effect of treatment with antibodies and the antibody titre in the first days following burns.