Cryosurgery of the monkey (macaque) prostate: I. Humoral immunologic responsiveness following cryostimulation

The effect of in situ freezing of the monkey (macaque) prostate on the development of antibodies reactive with allogeneic and autologous extract preparations of the cranial and caudal lobe of prostatic tissue and their tissue specificity were evaluated by the method of tanned cell hemagglutination. A representative percentage of the animals receiving cryosurgery developed antibodies to prostatic tissue components; however the intensity of this response was considerably modest when contrasted to that obtained following similar treatment of the rabbit prostate (coagulating gland) and generally did not appear, as in the latter, to increase to any significant degree following multiple freezing. The possible relationship of this modest humoral response to the “cryosensitivity” of the target organ and of the animals evaluated in the present study, i.e., the concentration of glandular secretions (autoantigens), physiologic state (elaboration of androgen) and immunocompetence, are considered.