The neutralizing antibody of 160 serum specimens collected in 1978 from healthy residents in five prefectures in Japan was titrated against both the virulent standard strains and the Sabin vaccine strains of three types of poliovirus. Antibody-positive rates with both strains of respective types at a level of 1: 4 were comparable in all three types of poliovirus. However, the geometric mean titers (GMTs) obtained against both strains showed statistically significant difference depending on the age-cohort's previous history of exposure to the wild or the vaccine strains of polioviruses: the younger age cohorts showed higher GMTs to the Sabin strains, while adults responded higher to the virulent standard strains. The difference was most pronounced in type 1.

View full abstract

A system for the detection of soluble IL-2R by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established. This assay system has good reproducibility, and was found to be specific for soluble IL-2R by examination of the binding of anti-IgM antibody or anti-IL-2R monoclonal antibody (mAb) with IgM or soluble IL-2R and inhibition by IL-2 of the binding of anit-IL-2R mAb to soluble IL-2R. The IL-2R molecules in supernatant of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells were of 44, 000-61, 000 molecular weight as estimated by size of exclusion high performance liquid chromatography. The results of determinations for soluble IL-2R with a Eurogenetics kit (sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) were significantly correlated with those by the our method.

View full abstract

Botulinum antitoxin is commonly titrated by injecting a mixture of toxin and antitoxin into mice and by utilizing deaths as a marker to measure the amount of unneutralized toxin. We attempted to titrate antitoxin by converting the severity of symptoms (notablly palsy) and titme-to-death in days into scores. In neutralization tests with toxin levels at 5.9 LD₅₀ and 23.5 LD₅₀, a linear relationship was obtained for antitoxin dose in a range between 0.03 to 0.003 IU/ml. Statistical analysis showed that homogeneity of variance or slope was not denied for the scores obtained on any day from the first to the fourth days after injection, demonstrating that this method can titrate accurately antitoxin of such a low level as 0.003 IU/ml within 4 days after injection.

View full abstract

In vivo antitumor activity of a deoxyribonucleic acid fraction obtained from Mycobacterium bovis BCG (named MY-1) increased when it was complexed with poly-L-lysine (poly LL) solubilized by addition of carboxy-methylcellulose (CMC) . The complex of MY-1 and poly LL/CMC induced interferon in vivo at a low dose of MY-1 which alone exerted no IFN induction. With Line 10 hepatoma (L10) which is syngeneic with strain 2 guinea pigs, it was demonstrated that repeated intralesional injections of the complex resulted in delay of tumor growth and complete cure of animals from L10 tumor inoculated. Similar treatment of the animals with the same amount of MY-1 or poly LL/CMC alone had little therapeutic effect on the tumor growth.

View full abstract

By the dilution-centrifugation method, 270 honey samples, both domestic and imported, were examined and Clostridium botulinum was detected in 23 samples (8.5%) ; type A in 11 samples, type B in two, type C in 10, and type F in one. Of 58 domestic honey samples, six (10%) were positive; three gave type A and the other two type C. Among imported honey samples, Chinese honey gave 12% positives (types A, B, and C) and Argentina honey 20% positives (types A. and F) . The incidence was higher with samples taken from drums (18%) and from apiaries (23%) than marketing honey (5%) . It was estimated that most positive samples contained spores in one per gram or lower concentrations. One sample contained 4 type A spores per gram and another 36-60 type F spores per gram. No distinct biochemical properties were found with the honey isolates.

View full abstract