The influence of novocaine on immunogenesis

Summary

Experiments were carried out on 33 rabbits and 570 mice. It was shown that novocaine injected subcutaneously or given by mouth daily depressed immunogenesis, i.e., depressed the production of agglutinins, hemolysins and precipitins.

The depression of antibody production was most marked and prolonged when the novocaine was given by subcutaneous injection; it then persisted after the treatment had been discontinued. When the novocaine was given by mouth antibody production was depressed only during the period of treatment; in some animals the antibodies were formed after the end of the treatment. In mice immunity to typhoid bacillus was depressed after subcutaneous administration of novocaine. After mice had been irradiated with 300 r, immunogenesis was depressed whichever way the novocaine was given. The results obtained may be important in relation to the depression of the immune response in treatment of radiation sickness, in tissue transplantation, and in tumor development.