COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON HUMORAL IMMUNE-RESPONSES IN GERMFREE AND CONVENTIONAL MICE

Abstract

The plaque-forming cell (PFC) responses to sheep red blood cells (SRBC), dinitrophenyl-lysine-Ficoll (DNP-lys-Ficoll) and dinitrophenylated bovine serum albumin (DNP-BSA) were studied in germ-free and conventionally reared ICR mice. In germ-free mice the IgG [immunoglobulin G] response to SRBC and the IgM and IgG responses to DNP-BSA were lower than in conventional mice, but no difference was observed in the IgM response to SRBC or the IgM and IgG responses to DNP-lys-Ficoll. The number of .theta.-bearing cells in the spleen was smaller, and the mitogenic response of spleen cells to PHA [phytohemagglutinin] was lower in germ-free mice than in conventional mice. T cells of germ-free mice apparently remain functionally immature.