Influence of Antigens on Release of Free Fatty Acids from Arlacel A (Mannide Monooleate)

Abstract

Summary With use of the modified method of Dumcombe for assay of FFA, it was found that water-in-oil emulsified tetanus toxoids, cholera and typhoid vaccines which induced abscesses in human beings contained more FFA than did emulsified products not inducing abscesses. The purer the parent tetanus toxoid, the lower was the free fatty acid content of the emulsified antigen. C. tetani culture filtrates, cholera vaccine, one typhoid vaccine and several types of allergenic extracts promoted the release of FFA from the emulsifier, Arlacel A. Preliminary data suggest that the hydrolytic component of C. tetani filtrates is an enzyme. The relationship of FFA released by the interaction of antigens on the emulsifying agent of the oil adjuvant to untoward reactivity remains to be determined.