Effect of Thymic Extracts on Restoration of Immunologic Competence in Thymectomized Mice

Abstract

Extracts of thymic tissue from syngeneic donors restored the immunologic capacity of neonatally thymectomized C57BL mice. Dissociated spleen cells of thymic-extract treated mice evoked a GVH [graft-versus-host] reaction in newborn BALB/c mice. In contrast, splenic extracts were ineffective. Thymic extracts, however, failed to lower the frequency of "wasting" with consequent death; neither did overt lymphoid regeneration occur in these treated mice thymectomized at birth.