Suppression of the Haemorrhagic Component of the Schwartzmann Reaction by Anti-complement Serum

Abstract

WE have previously described^1,2 the suppression of the haemorrhagic component of the Arthus reaction and the passive tuberculin reaction with antilymphocytic sera (in ref. 2 this was an antiserum against an extract of lymph node cells). The other inflammatory condition in the skin with a marked haemorrhagic component is the Schwartzmann reaction: the reaction developing at the site of an earlier intradermal injection of endotoxin when the animal is challenged with endotoxin, intravenously, 24 h later. This reaction has not been found consistently in guinea-pigs, although it can be readily produced in rabbits³; its mechanism is not well understood. We have investigated whether antilymphocytic sera suppress the Schwartzmann reaction and, if not, whether any of the heterologous antisera used in our previous experiments would suppress this reaction.