Ineffectiveness of Adrenal Cortical Hormone on Serum Complement of the Guinea Pig. ∗

Partial adrenalectomy increases the susceptibility of guinea pigs and rats to anaphylactic shock. 1 2 3 The lethal dose of antigen has been found to be inversely proportional to the degree of adrenal insufficiency. Wolfram and Zwemer 4 report that “cortin”protects normal sensitized guinea pigs against fatal anaphylaxis. In the dog the severity of anaphylactic shock is said to be lessened by the previous injection of cortical hormone. 5 Perla and his coworkers 6 report an increased resistance in rats to histamine shock by the use of “cortin”. These observations parallel others in which cortical extract is said to improve the lowered resistance of adrenalectomized animals to bacterial infection. 7 8 This has been explained as due to increased antibody production, especially in the earlier stages of the immunizing process. 9

Since anaphylactic shock, whether actively or passively transmitted, is accompanied by a fall in serum complement, 10 it is of interest to see whether the reported protective effect of cortical hormone can be attributed to an alteration in the titer of the serum complement.

Method. Healthy adult guinea pigs were kept on a high vitamin C diet for several weeks prior to use, in order to exclude any effect of vitamin C deficiency on the level of serum complement. 11 Blood for titration of complement was obtained by cardiac puncture, with or without ether anesthesia. (In a series of preliminary experiments the use of ether anesthesia did not change the complementing activities of the sera. This confirms the observations of Ecker. 12 ) The method of titration of complement was exactly as previously reported. 13 Sera were diluted 1:30 with Brooks”solution and titrated immediately after dilution for the point of initial hemolysis.

Two different preparations of cortical hormone were used: (1) adrenal cortical extract in 10% alcohol (50 dog units per cc) “Cortin”† and (2) desoxycorticosterone acetate in sesame oil (5 mg per cc) “Percorten.”