The Comparative Retention of Antigen in the Skin of Immune and Normal Rabbits as Determined with Egg Albumin Labelled with Radioactive Iodine

Abstract

A radioactive antigen which emitted gamma rays was prepared by chemical attachment of radioactive iodine, I¹³¹, to crystallized hen egg albumin. The rates of disappearance of radioactivity from sites of injection were determined with a Geiger-Mueller counter shielded with lead to give directional collimation. The labelled antigen was specifically precipitated with antiiodinated ovalbumin serum as well as with anti-ovalbumin serum. An increased retention of radioactivity after intradermal injection of the iodinated ovalbumin persisted only in those rabbits which were sufficiently immune to iodinated ovalbumin to respond with a pronounced inflammatory (Arthus) reaction. Tracer radioactive albumin was also retained to a greater degree than in normal skin when injected into a site undergoing an Arthus reaction produced by the simultaneous injections of bovine gamma globulin into animals sensitized to this antigen. This increased retention of ovalbumin was interpreted as a non-specific effect of inflammation since no antiovalbumin was present.