An electrophoretic and immunochemical study of serum proteins in guinea pigs during development of brucellosis

Summary

It was shown by electrophoretic methods that in the early stages of brucellosis in guinea pigs, there is an increase in the α- and γ-globulin fractions of blood serum, and a reduction in the albumin fraction.

The α-globulin content is decreased in the “non-precipitable fraction” left in solution after CO₂ is passed through the serum; electrophoretic analysis shows that the γ-globulins are precipitated when the medium is acidified. The prolonged complement-fixation reaction, and allergy tests on sensitized guinea pigs, have demonstrated that the precipitate possesses antigenic properties undetectable by any of the physicochemical methods used The precipitate contained two groups of proteins whose mobility approached that of the α- and β-globulins, as well as lipid and polysaccharide material. The possibility is discussed that antigenic substances from brucella, or products of brucella metabolism, are adsorbed by serum protein components of high mobility.