Experimental Hyperglobulinemia the Effect O1~ Injected Ribonucleotide on Serum Globulin Levels in Rabbits Undergoing Tmmunization ~ by Goetz W. Richter,~ M.d

Although hyperglobulinemia is frequently seen in a number of diseases, notably multiple myeloma, lymphogranuloma venereum, kala azar, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, disseminated lupus erythematosus, and hypersensitive states (1--4), its pathogenesis in these various circumstances remains largely unknown. Furthermore, apart from a few investigations on the hyperglobulinemia associated with ~rnrounization and with amyloidosis (5-9), the condition has not been studied experimentally. The phenomenon of hyperglobulinemia is necessarily related to the more fundamental problem of how proteins are formed by the living organism. In recent years numerous cytological and chemical studies have provided evidence that nucleotides are involved in the formation of proteins in diverse animal and plant cells (10-15), and it has been reported that an increase in cytoplasmic ribonucleotides develops in cells which may be actively engaged in the production of antibody globulins (1618). It should be noted, however, that the part played by nucleotides in proteosynthesis has been inferred from correlations of cytological observations and chemical analyses, not from direct evidence; as pointed out by Brachet, the relation between nucleic acids and the synthesis of proteins is far from being solved (15). The experiments now to be reported were undertaken to study directly the relationship of ribonucleotides to globulin formation, and hence to learn more about the pathogenesis of hyperglobulinemia. The findings show that repeated injection of a ribonucleotide into rabbits undergoing immunization with horse serum markedly enhances the production of serum globulins; they indicate also that most of the globulin appearing in the blood under such circumstances differs from that comprising the specific antibodies resulting from the immunization.