Specificity of the local transfer of cell-mediated immunity with dialyzable transfer factor

Local transfer of delayed cutaneous reactions to PPD, candidin, streptokinase-streptodornase, and leishmanin was used to study the specificity of dialyzable transfer factor (TF). Whereas conversions of reactions that were negative in the donors were achieved in experiments using the ubiquitous antigens, transfer of sensitivity to leishmanin (Montenegro reaction) was only accomplished by using TF of Montenegro-positive individuals. It was concluded that TF has specific properties and that ubiquitous antigens are not suitable for studying the specificity of the transfer, since the possibility of presensitization of the donors cannot be excluded in spite of negative cutaneous reaction.