Influence of lymphatic tissue on the development of adjuvant-induced polyarthritis in rats.

Abstract

Experimental polyarthritis was induced in randomly-bred rats of Wistar strain 5 to 6 weeks old by intradermal injection of Freund''s complete adjuvant. The degree of inflammation of joints in every limb was noted daily. From a statistical analysis of the results it was shown that removal of popliteal and inguinal lymph nodes draining the site of injection diminished the incidence and severity of polyarthritis in comparison with controls which were injected with adjuvant only or which received adjuvant and also had their contralateral lymph nodes removed. This diminishing effect occurred when the nodes were removed 5 days before and 24 hr. or 5 days after the injection. Splenectomy and thymectomy had no significant effect. Laparotomy performed 5 days before the administration of adjuvant increased the severity of the disease, but when it was performed 5 days after injection the disease ran a milder course.