The Relation Between Molecular Weight of Antigen and Ability to Elicit Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis.

Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in the guinea pig has been studied with rabbit antibody to a series of antigens of differing molecular weight. The results indicated that at a given antibody level the weight of antigen needed to elicit a reaction increases with its molecular weight. Previous observations have been confirmed that the amount of antigen needed to elicit a reaction at a high level of antibody is less than that required at a lower level. The results suggest that extremely small amounts of small molecular weight antigens might be sufficient to produce anaphylactic symptoms in highly sensitive individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]