The Efficacy of the Intracutaneous Route of Injection and the Susceptibility of the Hartley Strain of Guinea Pigs in Experimental Allergic Encephalitis

Abstract

Sterile disseminated encephalitis was produced by Rivers and his associates in monkeys by injecting CNS tissue using often repeated injections (1). By means of adjuvants consisting of paraffin oil and killed mycobacteria or Nocardia asteroides, rapid production of encephalomyelitis has become possible. This has been demonstrated in monkeys, guinea pigs, mice, rabbits and dogs (2–7). The substance responsible for the induction of allergic encephalitis has been the subject of extensive investigations (8). In such studies, it is essential to find conditions which afford the production of encephalitis by a single injection and in a relatively short and narrow range of time. It is also advantageous to produce easily recognizable clinical symptoms which can be correlated readily with histological findings. It is desirable that a large percentage of the injected animals should respond. In many of the studies on the fractions from the central nervous tissue, repeated injections have been used.