THE BEHAVIOR OF THREE DIFFERENT KINDS OF ANTIBODIES IN TUBERCULOSIS: ANTIPROTEIN, ANTIPOLYSACCHARIDE, AND ANTIPHOSPHATIDE

Abstract

The mode and the level of production of the 3 different kinds of antibodies, antipolysaccharide, antiprotein, and antiphosphatide, were found to differ considerably with the mode of infection and the virulence of tubercle bacilli. Evidence is given that production of the antipolysaccharide and antiprotein is stimulated without regard to the mode of infection and the virulence of bacilli, while the antiphosphatide is produced chiefly under conditions where in vivo bacilli might have undergone destruction. Of the 3 antibodies, the level of antiphosphatide was shown to reflect most faithfully the progression of experimental tuberculous infection. The amounts of the 3 circulating antibodies were found to have no direct relationship to the degree of tuberculin skin hypersensitivity.