Some Considerations of the Antigen Dose-Antibody Response Relationship

Summary Data derived from the literature are presented in support of the 1912 theory of Smith and St. John-Brooks that the antigen dose-antibody response follows the form: K1c1/nAb where K1 is a constant, c is the concentration of the antigen, n is a constant between 1.9 and 3.6 and Ab is the maximum concentration of antibody. The value of n appears to depend upon the chemical composition of the antigen. For proteins, n is about 1.9, for lipopolysaccharides about 2.6, and for polysaccharides about 3.6. From limited data, this equation appears to hold only at intermediate concentrations of antigen. At low concentrations, n approaches 1, while at high concentrations n approaches infinity. On the basis of the above equation, certain values for K1 could be calculated, and these are listed. These findings are consistent with, but do not prove, the concept that the limiting step in antibody production involves an adsorption process.