August 15, 1941
Dr. Karl Landsteiner
The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
66th Street and York Avenue
New York, New York
Dear Dr. Landsteiner:
I have nothing much new to report regarding our serological experiments. Dr. Dan Campbell
is now back at work here, and he and Dr. Pressman are beginning to obtain some new
results. One result of interest is the analysis of a precipitate formed by substances
like resorcinol or phloroglucinol with two attached groups. These precipitates all
have the molecular ratio of antibody to antigen equal approximately to one, which
indicates strongly that the antibodies are bivalent, since the antigens are bivalent.
I have just returned from a stay at the Stanford University Hospital with Dr. Thomas
Addis. I learned from him that he thinks that nephritis following scarlet fever
or other infection is perhaps the result of some abnormality in immunological mechanism.
I asked if anyone had ever observed the incidents of nephritis or similar kidney damage
in rabbits or other experimental animals after injection with ordinary antigens or
with azoproteins. He thought that no such observation had been reported, but he
felt that it would be wise to ask you about this. There is no good way of inducing
nephritis in animals at present, and if Addis is right in thinking that the immunological
mechanism is responsible and if also it is found possible to produce nephritis by
injection of antigens, a study of this phenomenon might well lead to some significant
results with regards to the proper treatment of scarlet fever patients to avoid subsequent
nephritis. With best regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
Linus Pauling
