Anaphylaxis inthe Mouse-a Modelfor UsingTwo-Dimensional Electroimmunodiffusion to StudyPathological Changesin Multiple SerumProteinsSimultaneously

Two-dimensional electroimmunodiffusion israrelyused inclinical chemistry, becauseitspotentialities are not yet widely appreciated. Studyingmouse anaphylaxis, we observed with this technique certain striking short- and long-term pathologic changesin several important serum antigens, which aptly demonstrate its uniqueness and potential clinical usefulness. We present some of these observations here, for illustration. We analyzedsera from CF-i female mice that hadbeenanaphylacticallyshocked with chickenconalbuminantigenand bled45 mm to 22 days afterward. In three separate experiments, with samples of serum being analyzed only once each, this technique easily andsurely detected quantitative and (or) qualitative changesin severalserumantigens.We discuss here the changes in 7S Yi immunoglobulin, C3 globulin, hemopexin, and c1-Iipoprotein, and explain how some of these changes would have been difficult and others impossible to detect by currently routine tests. We urge the adoptionoftwo-dimensional electroimmunodiffusion for frequent use in the Clinical laboratory fordiagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring pathological conditions. Two-dimensional electroimmunodiffusion (2-D EID) can resolve, characterize, and quantify many serum antigens at once (1). It compares them with each other, and thus is an extraordinarily precise and informative multiple-correlation test for physiologically or pathologically significant changes in serum antigens (2, 3). It is possible, by comparing testserum patterns with a standard-serum pattern, directly to identify qualitative and quantitative abnormalities in individual antigens among more than 40, thereby locating at once and in a single analysis changes that may be clinically sign ificant and deserve specific study. Yet, the technique rarely is used in this manner, because these capabilities and their mode of exploitation have seldom been demonstrated and are not yet widely enough known. The sera of mice undergoing or recovering from anaphylaxis provide an excellent model for such demonstration. We use this model here to show how serum antigen abnormalities are first identified and then generally characterized by pattern comparisons, how they are documented quantitatively, and how definite they can be in rather few analyses, because they compensate for such practical problems as data-point scatter and individual subject variation, with which relatively few single-analysis tests can cope. Because 2-D EID can be performed by moderately experienced personnel with the usual equipment found in a clinical chemistry laboratory and gives more comprehensive data about serum than any other single analytical technique, our demonstration here of its practical use should make it highly attractive for cost-conscious or limited manpower-conscious research and diagnostic laboratories.