I. Attempts to Isolate the Rh Antigen from Red Blood Cells. II. The Fractionation of an Anti-Rh Antiserum. III. A Comparison of the Vasoconstrictor Actions of Adrenaline and Noradrenaline

Citation

Clarke, Donald Walter (1951) I. Attempts to Isolate the Rh Antigen from Red Blood Cells. II. The Fractionation of an Anti-Rh Antiserum. III. A Comparison of the Vasoconstrictor Actions of Adrenaline and Noradrenaline. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/VP6F-PS33. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:10052017-143320468

Abstract

Part I

Attempts to obtain a substance with Rh antigenic activity from human red blood cells are described. At first, some extractions of the cells using ethanol, methanol, acetone, ether, dioxan, chloroform, and tol­uene, under different conditions, were performed. Later work involved treatment of the cells with aqueous reagents to degrade the cell wall, followed by attempts to obtain a purified, active extract by precipitation or solution. None of these methods yielded a pure, specifically active Rh antigenic material.

Part II

The fractionation of an anti-Rh serum by electro­phoresis-convection, and the immunologic characterization of these fractions, are described. Evidence is presented to show that certain anti-Rh antibodies may exist in globulin fractions other than the γ-globulin.

Part III

Experiments are described in which the vasoconstricting actions of adrenaline and of nor-adrenaline on rats were compared. It was concluded that there was but little difference in their action in this respect. Other experiments indicated that the administration of these drugs to lightly anaesthetized rabbits did not affect the metabolic rate of the subjects.

Thesis Files