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The Passage of Antipneumococcal Antibodies Into Pleural Exudates in Rabbits—A Comparison of the Penetration of the Pleura by Horse and Rabbit Sera

From the Departments of Medicine and Pathology of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Medical School, Baltimore

Abstract

In their report on the superior effectiveness of rabbit antipneumococcal serum in treating pneumococcal pneumonia Horsfall and Goodner (1) suggested that serous membranes might be more permeable to rabbit- than to horse-antibody. The antibody-molecule in horse serum is about 44 mµ in diameter, whereas, the rabbit-serum molecule is only 11 mµ (2). Under certain circumstances, as in long-continued immunization, however, even horse serum may contain smaller antibody-molecules, as was shown recently by Kabat (3). Horsfall and Goodner based their assumption concerning the permeability of the serous membranes not only on these observations but also on a report by Sabin (4) who was unable to demonstrate the passage of horse-serum antibodies from the blood into the empyema-cavities in four patients who had received fairly large quantities of anti-pneumococcal horse serum intravenously. Horsfall and Goodner, on the other hand, stated that they were able to demonstrate the presence of rabbit serum (i.e., antibodies) in the empyema-fluid of two patients who had been treated with rabbit serum.