THE FORMATION OF MACROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES. I. STUDIES ON ADULT HUMANS*

Abstract

Normal and diseased subjects produce high molecular weight (19S) antibodies and little or no 7S antibody after initial immunization with typhoid-paratyphoid antigens. Different routes of immunization, whether intramuscular or intradermal, gave qualitatively similar results. After booster injection of subjects immunized at some time in the past, antibodies to typhoid H and paratyphoids A and B are found predominantly in the low molecular weight (7S) fraction. Typhoid O agglutinins have been found exclusively in the 19S fraction, and no change in the size of these antibodies occurs with time. The change in the typhoid H and paratyphoid A and B antibodies from 19S to predominantly 7S type in adults requires more than 6 months, and few subjects show complete change. In most subjects, 19S agglutinins are present even 1 to 2 years after initial immunization, although 7S antibodies predominate.