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The Validity of the "Percentage Law" in Bactericidal Reactions¹

Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, Missouri

Abstract

In previous communications (1, 2) we have reported experiments showing the effect of dilution on mixtures of pneumococcus type 1 and its specific antibody. Our findings led us to conclude that dilution does not cause an appreciable dissociation of antibody, although similar findings of various others with virus-antiserum mixtures have led to the conclusion either that there is no "in vitro" union of virus and neutralizing antibody, or that the union is freely reversible (3). Because the pneumococcus, in contradistinction to viruses, can be grown on artificial media, we were able to interpret our results somewhat more accurately than can be done with viruses. The use of a bacterial-antibody system thus becomes a useful "tool" in attempting to reconcile the differences which appear to exist in the laws governing immune reactions with bacteria on the one hand, and viruses on the other.

Footnotes

¹ Aided by a grant from Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana.