Summary
The effectiveness of antitoxin in preventing tetanus toxin's blockage of acetylcholine release from the cholinergic nerves of the rabbit iris was tested by injecting purified tetanus toxin into the anterior chamber, and by injecting horse antitoxin at various time intervals either into the anterior chamber, intravenously, or into the anterior chamber and intramuscularly.
The results indicate that antitoxin is ineffective in preventing the development of sphincter pupillae paralysis once it is induced by tetanus toxin, prior to appearance of the symptoms.
The efficacy of antitoxin treatment depends on the administration of an optimal therapeutic dose.
Neither the rate of development, nor the rate of recovery from the maximal pupillary paralysis are altered by antitoxin treatment.
The severity, the duration, and the time of complete recovery from the paralysis are directly related to the time antitoxin treatment begins.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abel, J. J., Chalian, W.: Reserches on tetanus. VIII. At what point in the course of tetanus does anti-tetanic serum fail to save life? Bull. Johns Hopk. Hosp. 62, 610–633 (1938).
Ambache, N., Morgan, R. S., Wright, Payling, G.: The action of tetanus toxin on the rabbit's iris. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 107, 45–53 (1948a).
Ambache, N., Morgan, R. S., Wright, Payling, G.: The action of tetanus toxin on the acetylcholine and cholinesterase contents of the rabbit's iris. Br. J. Exp. Path. 29, 408–418 (1948b).
Bennett, D. R., Reinke, D. A., Alpert, E., Baum, T., Vasquez-Leon, H.: The action of intraocularly administered adrenergic drugs on the iris. J. Pharmacol. exp. Ther. 134, 190–198 (1961).
Curtis, D. R., De Groat, W. C.: Tetanus toxin and spinal inhibition. Brain Res. 10, 208–212 (1968).
Dietrich, H. F.: Tetanus in childhood. Amer. J. Dis. Child. 59, 693–710 (1940).
Fedinec, A. A.: Absorption and distribution of tetanus toxin in experimental animals. In: Principles on Tetanus, pp. 169–175. L. Eckmann, ed. Bern: H. Hueber 1967.
Fedinec, A. A., Matzke, H. A.: The relationship of toxin and antitoxin injection site to tetanus development in the rat. J. exp. Med. 110, 1023–1040 (1959).
Fedinec, A. A., Shank, R. P.: Effect of tetanus toxin on the content of glycine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, glutamine, and aspartate in the rat spinal cord. J. Neurochem. 18, 2229–2234 (1971).
Gardner, D. P.: Localization of tetanus toxin in the rat sciatic nerve. Doctoral dissertation. University of Tennessee Medical Units, Memphis, Tennessee (1972).
Habermann, E.: Pharmakokinetische Besonderheiten des Tetanustoxins und ihre Beziehungen zur Pathogenese des lokalen bzw. generalisierten Tetanus. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmak. 267, 1–19 (1970).
Habermann, E.: Distribution of 125I-tetanus toxin and 125I-toxoid in rats with local tetanus, as influenced by antitoxin. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 272, 75–88 (1972).
Ildrim, I.: A new treatment for neonatal tetanus. J. Pediat. Turkey 9, 89–95 (1967).
King, L. E.: Distribution of tetanus toxin in the rat peripheral nerve components during the development of local tetanus. Doctoral dissertation. University of Tennessee Medical Units, Memphis, Tennessee (1970).
Klatzo, I., Miquel, J., Otenasek, R.: The application of fluorescein labeled serum proteins (FLSP) to the study of vascular permeability in the brain. Acta neuropath. (Berl.) 2, 144–160 (1962).
Kryzhanovskii, G. N.: The neural pathway of toxin. In: Principles of tetanus, pp. 155–168. L. Eckmann, ed. Bern: H. Hueber 1967.
Kryzhanovskii, G. N., Alekseev, L. P., Rozanov, A. Ya.: Neutralization with antitoxin of tetanus toxin bound with brain substance. Bull. exp. Biol. Med. 70, 1036–1038 (1970).
Kryzhanovskii, G. N., Krasnova, N. M.: Intracisternal injection of tetanus antitoxin in experimental tetanus. Bull. exp. Biol. Med. 71, 507–511 (1971).
Latham, W. C., Bent, D. F., Levine, L.: The production of tetanus toxin in proteinless medium. Appl. Microbiol. 10, 146–152 (1962).
Latham, W. C., Jenness, C. P., Timperti, R. J. K., Michelsen, C. B. H., Zipilivan, E. M., Edsall, G., Lay, H. L., Jr.: Purification and characterization of tetanus toxoid and toxin. I. Fractination of tetanus toxoid by gel filtration. J. Immunol. 95, 487–493 (1965).
Smith, J. W. G.: Intracerebral antitoxin in experimental tetanus. Brit. J. exp. Path. 47, 17–24 (1966).
Spaeth, R.: Therapy of tetanus. Arch. intern. Med. 28, 1133–1160 (1941).
Webster, R. A., Laurence, D. R.: The effect of antitoxin on fixed and free toxin in experimental tetanus. J. Path. Bact. 86, 413–420 (1963).
Wright, G. P.: Nerve trunks as pathways in infection. Proc. roy Soc. Med. 46, 319–330 (1953).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fedinec, A.A. Antitoxin's effect on tetanus toxin induced sphincter pupillae paralysis in the rabbit. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 276, 311–320 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00499885
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00499885