[Effect of penicillin on the antigenic properties of serum beta-lipoproteins]

Peculiar characteristics of the antigenic properties of penicillin compounds with heterological and homological beta-lipoproteids of the blood serum were investigated. The beta-lipoproteids isolated from the blood serum of humans (donors) and rabbits were mixed with potassium benzylpenicillin (10000 and 50000 gamma/ml). Twenty seven rabbits were immunized with such compounds and solutions of beta-lipoproteids without addition of the antibiotic. The antisera obtained from the animals were used in the reaction of precipitation and immunoelectrophoresis, the results of which were densitometrized. Some physico-chemical properties of the preparations, such as pH, electrokinetic features were also studied. It was shown that the immunochemical properties of heterological beta-lipoproteids, i.e. precipitation bands changed due to the effect of penicillin. They differed from the control by compactness and contrastness, their amounts decreased, a separate band not identical to that of the control antigen appeared. A separate or intermediate antigen was found in the experiments with serum exhaustion. The peculiarities of the precipitation reaction were confirmed by the immunoelectrophoregrams. These differences were also registered on the densitograms. The compounds of penicillin with homological beta-lipoproteids of the rabbit blood serum induced formation of specific precipitins in the animals. Some physico-chemical properties of beta-lipoproteids also changed under the effect of penicillin.