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Studies of Antipneumococal Serum

V. The Effect of the Time and Temperature of Incubation on the Complement-Fixation Reaction of Antipneumococcal Rabbit-Serum with Homologous Type-Specific Carbohydrate

From the Division of Laboratories and Research, New York State Department of Health, Albany

Abstract

In complement-fixation tests of 206 antipneumococcal rabbit-sera, types 1–32, with homologous type-specific carbohydrate, the amount of complement fixed in tests held twenty-four hours at 3–6 C was usually 2 to 3 times that fixed in tests incubated for ninety minutes at 37 C; for seven types, 4 to 6 times; and for two types, 6 to 8 times. The maximally reactive dose of antigen for given quantities of serum in these tests at 3–6 C was usually from 1.5 to 3 times that needed in the tests at 37 C; with sera and antigens of three types, from 5 to 11 times.

When incubated for periods up to twenty-four hours, fixation at 37 C was found for twelve of fifteen sera of various types to be as great as or even slightly greater than in tests held for the same time at 3–6 C. With the remaining three sera, the fixation at 37 C was always less than at the end of a similar period at 3–6 C. The maximally reactive dose of antigen for given amounts of serum was approximately the same after all periods of incubation at the same temperature; the differences in the relative proportions of antigen and antiserum that exhibited maximal fixation at 37 C and 3–6 C were therefore maintained throughout.