Abstract
Majority of the patients examined were those being admitted in the Momoyamy Hospital in Osaka during 1947 and 1948 under the diagnosis of epidemic or marine typhus fever.
A precise study was made on the 41 case at the time of the epidemic breaking outt towards the end of 1947 in Osaka.
A specimen of serum was obtained from each of these patients as early as possible on admission to the Hospital.
At the time a specific complement fixation test and Weil-Pelix Ox 19 test were made on these sera during the curse of the illness at the Momoyama Hospital Laboratory.
The results of the experiments conducted by the acid-turbidity-reactions on these sera could be summarized as follows.
The acid-turbidity-reaction on typhus fever rserum is worthy in early diagnosis, and epidemic typhus and murine were distinguished from each other by using washed antigens of Rickettsia.
The outline of this reaction is summarized as follows.
To the serum of a patients to which antigen had been added, very small amounts. of hydrochloric acid were added repeatedly and the pH of the medium was measured by the quinhydron method hydrochloric acid was added, and at the same time, the relative turbidity of the medim was measured by Putfrich's-photometer.
Plotting pH as ordinate and relative turbidity as the abscissa the following curve was obtained (Fig. 1) .
The turbidity of the serum plus antigen is highest at the isoelectric point, and it is higher than that of the serum alone.
The difference of both relative turbidity at the isoelectric point was named by us as the “acid-turbidity difference (A. T. D.) ” and the results of this reaction is judged by acid-turbidity difference.
