QUANTITATIVE STUDIES OF THE PHOTOCHEMICAL DESPECIATION OF HORSE SERUM : AN APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF INTRAVENOUS FOREIGN PROTEIN THERAPY

1. Normal horse serum was irradiated for periods of 3 to 4 days, with visible light or with ultraviolet light of known intensity and wave length. The photosensitizer hematoporphyrin was employed in some instances. The serum was exposed to the air in thin layers, and thoroughly agitated throughout irradiation. 2. The irradiated sera were unchanged in color, and over 90 per cent of the original protein content remained precipitable by phosphotungstic acid. 3. Studies of the antigenicity of the sera were carried out on guinea pigs and rabbits. Fresh antigenicities of deviated specificity and of an activity of the order of 1/50th, 1/1,000th, and less than 1/20,000th that of normal horse serum were obtained. The residual content of material having the same antigenic specificity as normal horse serum was estimated as approximately equivalent in activity to dilutions of normal horse serum of 1 cc., 1/10 cc., and less than 1/100 cc. per litre respectively.