Failure to Produce Lesions or Auto-Antibodies in Rabbits by Injecting Tissue Extracts, Streptococci and Adjuvants.

Abstract

Summary The inoculation of rabbits with suspensions of homologous kidney or heart tissue, in combination with heat-killed cultures of Group A and Group C beta hemolytic streptococci and Freund's adjuvants, did not bring about the formation of detectable antibodies for homologous tissue. Rabbits inoculated in this manner did not develop myocardial or renal lesions suggestive of rheumatic myocarditis or glomerulonephritis. In experiments involving approximately 350 rabbits, the only significant pathological finding consisted of acute inflammatory lesions in the myocardium of the right ventricle which occurred in ten animals. The latter animals had received injections of homologous heart and kidney tissue in combination with Group A streptococci and the adjuvants. The lesions did not resemble rheumatic myocarditis. Repeated attempts to confirm this observation, under similar conditions, yielded uniformly negative results.