Person, Donald A.

Abstract Concanavalin A (Con A) has been demonstrated to be antigenic in goats and methods have been described for separating the nonspecific reaction of Con A with polysaccharides from the specific antigen-antibody reaction. Specific precipitating antibody was found to be associated with IgG in the animals studied, and isolated IgG also fixed C′ in the antigen-antibody reaction. The partial inhibition of IgG precipitation of Con A by methyl-α-d-mannopyranoside provides further evidence for the heterogeneity of the immune IgG studied.

The characterization of 556 Micrococcaceae isolates from various clinical sources has been presented. The incidence of coagulase-negative mannitol-positive staphylococci was 3.2% and that of coagulase-positive mannitol-negative staphylococci was 1.6%. There appears to be insufficient justification for the routine reporting of staphylococcal variants from a general bacteriology laboratory, and biotyping should be reserved for special circumstances.

The sensitivities of 21 strains of herpes simplex virus (HSV), 13 type 1 strains and 8 type 2 strains, to 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (IUdR) and 9-β- d -arabinofuranosyladenine (ara-A) were evaluated by the plaque-suppression test in chick embryo fibroblast (CEF), WI-38, and HeLa cell cultures. In CEF, type 1 strains were considerably more sensitive to the inhibitors than were the type 2 strains. In WI-38, the type 1 strains were more sensitive than the type 2 strains to IUdR; however, the two serotypes were equally sensitive to ara-A. In HeLa cells, the differences in sensitivity to IUdR between the two serotypes were less. Eight HeLa-adapted strains (four type 1 and four type 2) evaluated in HeLa cell cultures were equally sensitive to IUdR; the type 2 strains were slightly more sensitive than type 1 strains to ara-A. These results demonstrate the wide variation in sensitivity of HSV types 1 and 2 to antiviral agents which results from differences in the cell culture system and passage history of the strains.

Two strains of mice (C-57 B1 and DBA) were given skin allografts from Swiss ICR/HA mice and were treated with varying doses of concanavalin A; the dosage ranged from only two injections of 25 micrograms during the experiment to daily doses of 1000 micrograms intraperitoneally. Immunosuppression was present at all dosages, the most prolonged and consistent effect being observed at 300 micrograms per day. Grafts survived for 14 to 21 days at this dosage compared to 4 to 9 days for controls.