[Antistreptolysin-titre under the use of traditional methods and after saturation with dextran sulfate]

1,700 blood samples of healthy test persons without clinically and paraclinically provable streptococcal diseases were examined for their content of antistreptolysin. Beside the usual method parallel determinations were carried out after addition of dextran sulfate. Thus increases of unspecific antistreptolysin titres shall be in most cases excluded, above all by the influence of the lipoproteins. The absorption of dextran sulfate led to the decrease of the antistreptolysin titre by 12.33%. Furthermore could be proved that the average antistreptolysin titre of female test persons is ca. 20 antistreptolysin units below the titre of male test persons, that seasonal variations of the antistreptolysin titre with the highest titres appear in the first and third quarter which may be explained by a bad unspecific defensive condition, that, furthermore, the antistreptolysin titres increase to the 14th year and then continuously decrease and that in new-born children the arithmetic mean value of the antistreptolysin units is significantly higher than in their mothers. Hereby an active influence of the placenta on the transmission of antibodies seems to be possible. Though a slightly increased financial expenditure is necessary for dextran sulfate, temporarily and concerning working technique, however, no larger loads appear, it is justifiable to perform the determination of antistreptolysin titres only by means of dextran sulfate-absorbed sera, since in this way a considerable number of unspecific and misleading reactions can be excluded.