THE ANTIGENIC COMPLEX OF STREPTOCOCCUS HÆMOLYTICUS

Abstract

The anaphylactic reactions of two non-type-specific fractions of hemolytic streptococcus extracts parallel the precipitin reactions. The nucleoprotein, P, is a true antigen, in that it stimulates antibody production in rabbits, as shown before, and produces anaphylactic shock in guinea pigs actively as well as passively. The probable carbohydrate, C, on the other hand, does not induce antibody formation in rabbits, so far as known at present, but does produce typical anaphylactic shock in guinea pigs passively sensitized with antibacterial serum provided the serum shows a high titer of C precipitins. This is an instance of a hapten, probably carbohydrate in nature, causing anaphylactic shock in passively sensitized guinea pigs.