Immune response of CBA mice in postnatal ontogeny

Changes in the pattern of immune response of the CBA mice during postnatal ontogenesis were studied on the models of cellular and humoral immunity. The functions mediated by the amplifier cells were shown to undergo the most significant changes. This was confirmed by a decrease in the activity of antigen-nonspecific T-suppressors, as estimated in a semisyngeneic system, an increase in the capacity of spleen lymphoid cells to induce the "graft versus host" reaction with the age and preservation of the function of hypersensitivity effectors of delayed type at the same level (after the age of 3-4 months). It is suggested that these changes might cause an age decrease in the suppressor activity of T-cells in a response to insoluble antigens.     

Protective role of effectors and T-suppressors of delayed hypersensitivity in mice with a localized staphylococcal infection

To induce delayed hypersensitivity (DH) in mice, experimental local infection with a small dose of Staphylococcus aureus was used. The production of suppressor cells was shown to occur after the intravenous injection of a large dose of killed staphylococcal culture. Experiments with the use of cell transfer and the treatment of lymphocytes with Thy-1 antiserum in the presence of the complement demonstrated the T-lymphocytic nature of DH and its suppression. The study revealed that the role played by DH in antistaphylococcal immunity was different in the animals infected by the subcutaneous routes; besides, the regulatory action of T-suppressors of DH was established.     

Characteristics of immune response regulation in viral hepatitis A and B

In 272 patients with virus hepatitis A and B the content of theophylline-sensitive lymphocytes (T-suppressors) and theophylline-resistant lymphocytes (T-helpers) in the peripheral blood was determined. Differences in the content of T-suppressors in cases of acute virus hepatitis A and B with an equal degree of severity were revealed: at the peak of hepatitis A infection in the mild form of the disease the number of the cells was decreased, while at the peak of hepatitis B infection an increase in their number was observed in the mild and moderate forms of the disease and a decrease, in the severe form of the disease. In chronic persistent hepatitis a decrease in the content of T-suppressors and an increase in the content of T-helpers were observed, and in chronic active hepatitis (at the period of remission) and increase in the T-helpers occurred. Changes in the content of the cells of both types are not characteristic of HBsAg carriership.     

Characteristics of the immune response to staphylococcal anatoxin in healthy persons

The immunization of young healthy males with adsorbed staphylococcal toxoid revealed the existence of two main types of postimmunization humoral response. One of them was characterized by an early (on days 7-14 after immunization) rise in the titer of antibodies with the subsequent gradual decrease of their content, while the number of circulating T-suppressors remained unchanged. The characteristic feature of the other type was a slow rise in the level of antitoxins by day 21 after immunization with the subsequent drop of their titers, preceded by a considerable increase in the number of circulating T-suppressors. The maximum antibody titer was definitely higher in the first type of response than in the second type (14.8 +/- 1.41 and 9.0 +/- 1.53 I. U./ml respectively). A single plasmapheresis procedure on day 21 after immunization produced no essential effect on the dynamics of the characteristics of cell-mediated and humoral immunity.     

The capacity of purified staphylococcal anatoxin to correct antigen-specific and antigen-nonspecific immunological defects]

Purified staphylococcal toxoid is capable of partially preventing the development of antigen-specific (induced by the supraoptimal dose of sheep red blood cells) and antigen-nonspecific (induced by Tahyna virus) defects of humoral immune response, as well as abolishing these defects. The presence and manifestation of the correction of virus-induced immunodeficiency is determined by the dose of the toxoid and the interval between the injections of purified staphylococcal toxoid and the infective agent.     

Effect of detergent and glycerin on the efficacy of nasal immunotherapy with allergens and on the level of the lymphocyte subpopulation in the organs of local immunity

Experimental mixed allergy to staphylococcal antigens in guinea pigs was treated by the intranasal administration of a staphylococcal allergen with a surfactant or glycerin added. The treatment was found to produce a hyposensitizing effect with respect to immediate and delayed hypersensitivity. The addition of glycerine enhanced this effect. At the same time the level of T-lymphocytes in the lungs and the lymph nodes of the respiratory tract returned to normal. Detergent used at a concentration of 2% abolished the hyposensitizing effect of the allergen, stimulated T-lymphocytes in the lymph nodes of the respiratory tract and the lungs; the number of T-suppressors decreased.     

Specificity of suppressor cells of the delayed hypersensitivity type for Staphylococcus studied by immunoadsorption

The immunological specificity of T-suppressors obtained from mice after intravenous immunization with corpuscular antigen was shown. The splenocytes of such a mice suppressed DH to staphylococcal antigens, but not to sheep red blood cells. The suppressor cells under study were specifically adhesive to staphylococci.     

The course of experimental staphylococcal sepsis in opposite mouse strains and first-generation hybrids]

The survival time and histological lesions of the kidneys, liver, heart, and lungs were studied in CBA/Sto, C3HA/Mv and F1 (C3HA/Mv x CBA/Sto) mice for 15 days after i.v. injections with S. aureus pathogenic strains CFU B-243 in doses of 10(9), 10(8) and 2.5 x 10(8) microbial cells. CBA/Sto mice were found relatively resistant and C3HA/Mv mice, susceptible to infection caused by different doses of S. aureus, this being associated with different morphological picture in the viscera. F1 hybrids were at least as susceptible to the infections as any of the parent strains, suggesting recessive inheritance of resistance to staphylococcal infection.     

The creation of specific immunity to staphylococcal infection in newborn infants by the intranasal administration of adsorbed staphylococcal anatoxin

The possibility of enhancing specific immunity in newborn infants by the intranasal administration of adsorbed staphylococcal toxoid to infants with a high risk of staphylococcal infection in doses of 1 drop (0.05 ml) into each nostril during the first 7-9 years of their life. On days 7-9 the level of anti-alpha-toxin in the blood rose to 3.8 +/- 0.14 I. U./ml and remained sufficiently high 3-6 months later. When this method was used for the simultaneous immunization of mothers, their antitoxic titers were not as high as in newborn infants. No side effects were observed. In the control group, the titers of anti-alpha-toxin were low during the whole period of observation. Infants immunized by the proposed method had no staphylococcal infections both during the newborn period and within the first year of their life. In the control group, 8 cases of minor forms of purulent septic infection were registered during the newborn period, and in 2 infants umbilical staphylococcal sepsis was diagnosed.     

Role of antigen-nonspecific suppressors occurring in stress in the pathogenesis of Langat virus infection in mice

Stress factors of different nature activate antigen-nonspecific suppressors inhibiting different mechanisms of immune response in mice. The adoptive transfer of the population of immunocompetent cells containing stress-induced suppressors to mice infected with Langat virus has been found to lead to the activation of asymptomatic infection. The data obtained in this investigation indicate that the above-mentioned mechanism of the development of antigen-nonspecific immune deficiency is of importance in the pathogenesis of viral infections in man and it explains the onset of diseases (or their aggravation) under the conditions of stress.     

Antigen-nonspecific suppression of the immune response in mice as affected by pertussis vaccine

A study was made of the suppressorgenic action of killed whole-cell pertussis vaccine prepared from B. pertussis strains 475 and 305. Thymic and splenic lymphocytes of CBA mice 3-7 days following intraperitoneal or intravenous inoculation of pertussis vaccine were shown to inhibit in an antigen-nonspecific manner the plaque-forming cell (PFC) production in the adoptive transfer experiments. Suppression of graft-versus-host reaction was also observed, estimated by the survival of irradiated (CBA X C57BL/6) Fl mice, or by measuring the endogenous colony formation. Suppression-mediating cells were found to be susceptible to complement-dependent lysis by the anti-I-Jk alloantiserum against the specific marker of suppressor T cells, antigen I-J. Furthermore, thymocytes of pertussis vaccine-treated mice were shown to inhibit the endogenous colony formation in syngeneic mice irradiated in sublethal dose. Thus, B. pertussis vaccination of CBA mice resulted in appearance of suppressor T cells that exerted various inhibitory activities in several experimental test-systems.     

Patterns in the antigen-nonspecific modulation of the B-cell activity in mice under the influence of a purified staphylococcal anatoxin

Purified staphylococcal toxoid (PST) has been shown to be an antigen-nonspecific immunomodulator, capable of inducing changes in the immune response of B-cells to unrelated antigens, such as sheep red blood cells (SRBC), in a wide range of doses (from 15 to 0.15 binding units per mouse). The manifestation of the immunomodulating effect depends on the conditions of the experiment: the doses of PST and SRBC, the age of mice, the sequence of the injections of the antigens and the intervals between the injections. The simultaneous injection of PST and SRBC induces, as a rule, an increase in immune response to the test antigen, while their separate injection induces mainly immunosuppression.     

Controlling effect of T lymphocyte suppressors on the proliferation of cells in various tissues

The changes in mitotic index of mouse bone marrow, spleen, liver, kidneys, small intestine, cornea were studied during alterations in the number of T-suppressors. It was found that mitotic activity in all tissues investigated enhanced significantly after a decrease in the number of T-suppressors caused by single injection of an antiserum against T-suppressors. On the contrary, the mitotic index diminished significantly after the transfer of tolerant spleen lymphoid cell suspension enriched by T-suppressors to normal syngeneic mice. These data indicate that T-suppressors are responsible for the control over cell proliferation in nonlymphoid tissues.     

Analysis of certain mechanisms of antigen-specific suppression of the immune response

CBA mice were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) to obtain immune spleen cells (ISc) which were used to suppressor cells. Administration of ISC to intact syngeneic recipients on the immunization day led to a more powerful suppression of the immune response as compared to that seen one day after antigen injection. Four days after immunization the animals' immune response was not liable to be suppressed. ISC extract possessed similar effects with respect to the immune response of normal spleen cells which were transplanted to the cyclophosphamide-treated recipients. The immune response of spleen cells from mice immunized with SRBC in a dose of 10(6) was less liable to be suppressed. Hyperimmune spleen cells from donors immunized with SRC in a dose of 10(9) were insensitive to ISC or to the extract. Experiments with the use of adoptive transfer of a mixture of immune and intact T- and B-cells have disclosed that B-cells from hyperimmune donors were resistant to suppression. Therefore, B-lymphocytes are the most probable target cells exposed to T-suppressors in the given system. The mechanism is discussed of the selective effect of T-suppressors on B-cells in the course of the immune response development during immunization with high doses of antigen.     

Resistance to Trypanosoma cruzi infection in relation to the timing of IgG humoral response

The Biozzi "high" (BH) and "low" (BL) responder mice (Selection III) differed in their susceptibility to Trypanosoma cruzi. The BH strain responded quickly to the infection, similar to the reaction of (CBA X C57B1/10)F1 mice but in contrast to the susceptible BL strain. We suggest that the IgG response mounted by the host during the prepatent period of the infection is crucial to the outcome of the infection.     

The dynamics of trickle infections with Heligmosomoides polygyrus in syngeneic strains of mice.

NIH, CBA, SWR and C57B1/10 mice were repeatedly infected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus, using doses of 10-50 larvae at frequencies of 2-16 days. NIH and SWR mice regulated the worm burdens at a stable dose-dependent level for a period of several weeks, following which expulsion occurred and immunity to subsequent re-infection was established. This regulation did not occur in CBA or C57B1/10 mice, and was inhibited by cortisone treatment. Evidence was found to suggest that regulation is the result of an immune response directed against the late larval stages of the parasite, shortly after their emergence into the lumen of the gut. The frequency of infection was an important factor in determining the course of infection. Frequently infected mice expelled the parasites more rapidly than mice infected with the same total number of larvae in fewer less frequent doses.     

The effect of kemantane on T-helpers and T-suppressors

The study of Kemantan on functionally alternative humoral immunity regulator cells: T-helpers and antigen-specific T-suppressors, including their induction, accumulation and functioning, was studied. Kemantan in doses of 0.2-200 mg/kg, introduced to the donors of T-helpers 2 days before they were taken, stimulated their activity 1.5- to 2-fold (with p less than 0.05). Kemantan had no influence on the functional activity of T-suppressors, as well as on their induction and accumulation.     

Some mechanisms involved in the prostaglandin E2 immunosuppressive effect in (CBA x C57BL)F1 mice in vivo

The cellular mechanisms involved in the immunosuppressive effect of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) multiple injections into (CBA x C57Bl)F1 mice in vivo have been studied. PGE2 injection increases the induction of specific T-suppressors. In addition, there is a decrease in macrophage phagocytic activity and in the phagocytosis index, apparently mediated by Fc gamma receptors (Fc gamma R) and not by the macrophage complement receptor (C3R). The induction of antibody synthesis by using "immune" macrophages injected into a syngeneic recipient results in considerable decrease in the accumulation of antibody-forming cells if the macrophage donor has been pretreated with exogenous PGE2 in comparison with untreated controls. These cellular mechanisms are possibly one part of the diverse way in which PGE2 exerts an immunosuppressive effect in vivo and contributes to humoral immune response suppression.     

The role of T-suppressors in the formation of plague immunity in mice

Antiplague immunization of mice causes an increase in the number of T-suppressors in their thymus and spleen; this increase is especially pronounced after injection of a low-immunogenic dose of the vaccine strain. T-suppressors specific to Yersinia pestis antigens were detected in the thymus on day 3 after a single injection and on day 14 after two injections of the vaccine strain.     

Immunologic status in physiological pregnancy

The levels of T gamma- and T mu-lymphocytes, functional activity of ConA-induced T-suppressors and the concentrations of SP1 and SP3 were determined in 164 normal pregnant women during 8-40 weeks of gestation. It is found that formation of the suppressor dominant is necessary for the immunological maintenance during 8-32 weeks of gestation. This dominant is intended to block superfluous maternal immune response to fetal alloantigens. The formation of such a dominant is evoked by high functional activity of ConA-induced T-suppressors and high levels of T gamma-lymphocytes with immunodeficiency of T mu-cells. Results of correlation analysis have shown a relationship between functional activity of T-suppressors and accumulation of two specific pregnancy proteins. It permits determining physiological role of SP1 and SP3 as natural endogenous immunoregulators of T-suppressors.