Nature 180, 1060 - 1061 (16 November 1957); doi:10.1038/1801060a0

Experimental Evidence for an Allergic Basis for Granuloma Formation in Man

WALTER B. SHELLEY & HARRY J. HURLEY

Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. June 29.

GRANULOMA formation is one of the significant reaction patterns of the body in disease. Characterized by tubercles of closely packed epithelioid cells, granulomas are the basic alteration in such chronic diseases as tuberculosis, leprosy, syphilis, sarcoidosis, deep fungus infections and in reactions to foreign material. These epithelioid cells are of reticulo-endothelial origin and may be regularly produced by the introduction of colloidal materials^1,2 Other than this, little is known concerning their origin. The present communication describes the production of a specific, hypersensitive, delayed reaction to zirconium which manifested itself as a granuloma.

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