Effects of the methanol extraction residue (MER) tubercle bacillus fraction on the production of antibodies in vitro. III. Consequence of prior sensitization to MER

Drora Halperin*, Caroline Reuben, Shlomo Ben-Efraim, Norman Grover, David W. Weiss

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mice repeatedly immunized with the methanol extraction residue fraction of tubercle bacilli (MER) in incomplete Freund's adjuvant produced high titers of circulating antibodies against MER, as assessed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Spleen cells derived from these animals failed to respond to the usual nonspecific immunopotentiating influence of MER on the primary production of antibodies (generation of specific plaqueforming cells) in vitro to sheep red blood cells. The defect was expressed by B lymphocytes and splenic macrophages, but not by splenic T lymphocytes or peritoneal exudate macrophagic cells. Impaired responsiveness by spleen cells from MER-immunized animals to nonspecific immunostimulation was also expressed with regard to another, unrelated biological response modifier, lipopolysaccharide. There was no impairment of responsiveness to polyclonal mitogenic stimulation. Possible mechanisms of the effects described are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)404-413
Number of pages10
JournalCellular Immunology
Volume92
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1985

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