Zone Of Inhibition
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
The zone of inhibition, or zone of depression, is observed in all immunological reactions and is characterized by the fact that an excess of immune serum or antigen can delay the reaction. The same serum or antigen in weaker concentrations gives a positive reaction that reaches a maximum at certain concentration levels and then gradually diminishes as the dose of reacting substances decreases.
Encyclopedia article (1928–1936)
ZONE OF INHIBITION, or zone of depression (German Hemmungszone, French reaction paradoxale), is observed in all immunological reactions and is expressed in the fact that an excess of immune serum or antigen can delay the reaction. The same serum or antigen in weaker concentrations gives a positive reaction, reaching at a certain level of these concentrations its maximum and then, as the dose of reacting substances decreases, gradually diminishing (see Immunity). Such a course of reaction, when graphically depicted, represents a sinusoidal curve. It indicates the adsorption mechanism of this reaction, with the Z. I. depending on a disruption of the necessary ratios in concentrations of serum and antigen for the reaction. This phenomenon of inhibition is interpreted thus by Landsteiner, Pauli, and others. In contrast to them, Ehrlich explains this phenomenon by the existence in immune sera, along with complete antibodies, of antibodies which combine with the antigen without causing visible changes in the antigen. Such incomplete antibodies were named by Ehrlich, in contrast to complete ones, agglutinoids, precipitoids, etc.
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Cite this page
“Zone Of Inhibition.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/zone-of-inhibition/