RABBIT ANAPHYLACTIC ANTIBODY

Antibody capable of sensitizing rabbit skin for passive cutaneous anaphylaxis is produced in the rabbit as early as 6 to 7 days following antigenic stimulation. It reaches peak activity around the 9th day and is gone by the 3rd wk. The antibody is heat labile, sensitive to treatment with mercaptoethanol, non-precipitating and does not fix complement. In order to demonstrate PCA activity a latent period is required of from 48 to 72 hr after introduction of the antibody into the rabbit's skin; the activity can persist for at least 17 days. It has a faster electrophoretic mobility than rabbit γG-globulin, and is eluted somewhat earlier than γG-globulin from Sephadex G-200, although distinctly after γM-globulin. No relationship was demonstrated between the rabbit PCA activity and the hemagglutinating activity found in the same sera. The rabbit anaphylactic antibody differs in almost all properties studies from the rabbit 7S antibody capable of sensitizing guinea pigs for PCA which arises at the same time. This latter antibody found early in immunization had properties which were indistinguishable from those described for the rabbit 7S antibody giving PCA in the guinea pig found in late hyperimmune sera.