We read with interest the article by Novembre et al [1], who report that the prevalence of sensitization to horse in children was 2.7% (624 positive results in a population of 23 460 individuals who underwent skin prick testing [SPT] at their allergy unit over the last 8 years). The authors show the importance of indirect exposure to horse allergens in inducing allergic sensitization and recomm...

An improved chemically defined basal medium (CMRL-1415) has been used to advantage in studying the effects on trypsinized, newly explanted mouse embryo cells of certain glycoproteins from plasma and serum, certain nonprotein macromolecules, and various combinations of these, in stationary cultures. When protein and nonprotein fractions were separated from fetal calf serum, the entire growth act...

Pleuritic exudates from patients with lobar pneumonia may be sterile or infected. Sterile fluids, at or about the time of crisis, contain actively acquired antibodies similar to those in the blood serum. Infected fluids do not contain such antibodies, presumably because of the presence in them of large amounts of soluble specific substance. Sterile fluids from patients treated with immune sera ...

In vitro cultivation of digeneans would aid the development of effective treatments and studies of the biology of the parasites. The goal of this study was to optimize culture conditions for the trematode, Gynaecotyla adunca. Metacercariae of the parasite from fiddler crabs, Uca pugnax, excysted in trypsin, were incubated overnight to permit fertilization, and were cultured in different conditi...

The injection of small amounts (1 cc.) of horse serum into the lungs of normal rabbits produces a transient pneumonitis confined to the dorsal aspect of both lungs. The injection of the same amount of horse serum into the lungs of rabbits that have been previously sensitized to the same serum causes in a high percentage of cases a lesion which is confined to one lung with the gross and microsco...

Composition of culture medium for mass production of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae was optimized using a response surface methodology (RSM). Initially, the influence of glucose, thallium acetate, fresh yeast extract, horse serum, and porcine serum on the production of mycoplasmal protein was assessed using a 'one factor at a time' technique. Next, factors with a significant effect, including fresh y...

It has been demonstrated that the removal of lipoids from Type I antipneumococcus horse serum causes a loss of the visible phenomena of type specific agglutination and precipitation, and in the case of rabbit serum a marked reduction in these properties. Initial activity of the type specific antibody can be restored to extracted immune horse serum by the addition of lecithin, and to rabbit seru...