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The Heat Produced by Reactions of Antigens with Antibodies

From the Department of Bacteriology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

Abstract

The differential micro-calorimeter of A. V. Hill was used for the measurement of the heat produced by the combination of diphtheria toxin with antitoxin and by the agglutination of bacteria by an immune serum. This type of calorimeter is well suited to such measurements, because it eliminates the effects of changes in the temperature of the environment during the long period required for these reactions and permits the use of suitable controls which cancel the heat effects due to dilution and to unknown substances in the solutions containing the antigens and the antibodies. A White potentiometer in conjunction with a thermocouple and galvanometer reproduced the temperature changes during the reactions in terms of microvolts, which were then converted into degrees Centigrade.

The probable errors in the measurements amount to approximately 10 per cent. The values obtained are thought to be somewhat too high.

Both types of reaction are exothermic.

At present, the amounts of the reacting components cannot be expressed in grams, and are measured in terms of immunological units.

The data for the reaction between diphtheria toxin and antitoxin are based upon the union of 1 unit of diphtheria antitoxin with 1 L_f amount of toxin. In this proportion, all of the affinities of the antitoxin are satisfied by combination with an equivalent of the toxin-antigen, regardless of its actual toxicity. The reaction between 1 unit of diphtheria antitoxin and 1 L_f amount of diphtheria toxin liberated 0.0645 gram calories.

The observations upon the heat produced by the agglutination of bacteria by an immune serum have only a qualitative significance, as it is impossible to reduce these to any satisfactory quantitative terms. Heat is liberated during this reaction in two periods. The first corresponds to the period in which the antigen and antibody combine; the second corresponds to the period of mechanical flocculation of the bacteria.