Quantitative complement fixation

Summary In agreement with the investigations ofKent et al. (4), it was found that blood collected in a modifiedAlsevers solution remains constant for a period of at least 14 days.We also succeeded in proving the same with regard to complement, stored according toRichardson (9) and with regard to amboceptor prepared according to the directions of the New York State Department of Health and stored in an equal volume of glycerol at 4° C.The cheap Eel colorimeter proved very suitable for the standardization of the erythrocyte-suspension and the measurement of the percentage of haemolysis.Success was not obtained by means of the method, used in this investigation, to keep the amount of complement, which under the conditions of the test causes haemolysis of 50% of erythrocytes, so constant, as to make daily complement titration unnecessary.     

Reiter protein complement fixation test; a preliminary comparison of the TPI test with the complement fixation test employing a soluble protein antigen derived from the Reiter strain

A comparative study of the specificity of the Reiter protein complement fixation (RPCF) test and the Treponema pallidum immobilization (TPI) test on 180 sera showed that the results in 178 instances or 98.9 per cent were in agreement. The sensitivity of the RPCF test, when compared to the TPI test, on 189 sera from patients known to have syphilis was in agreement in 182 or 96.3 per cent, assuming a correlation exists between positive TPI and both the "reactive" or "weakly reactive" RPCF test results. As to reproducibility of results, the RPCF test results agreed in 84 of the 87 sera tested (95.4 per cent). The sera were tested at least three times on different days. Anticomplementary reactions were observed in three of 91 normal sera.