Intradermal Reactions in Man to Autologous Erythrocytes Sensitized with Tuberculin or Endotoxin

Abstract

Human subjects were injected intradermally with their own erythrocytes sensitized with old tuberculin or Escherichia coli endotoxin. Erythrocytes sensitized with tuberculin induced a delayed inflammatory response in tuberculinpositive subjects but no inflammatory reaction in tuberculin-negative ones. Erythrocytes sensitized to endotoxin induced an immediate 5-hr inflammatory reaction with a delayed component in all subjects. Unsensitized cells remained at the site of injection, but cells sensitizied to OT or suspended in OT were removed by the delayed reaction in tuberculin-positive subjects. Endotoxin-sensitized cells or cells suspended in endotoxin also remained at the site of injection despite the immediate reaction in all subjects. These results indicate: a) that antigens adsorbed in blood cells elicit the same reaction as the unabsorbed antigen in vivo; and b) that the intradermal injection of sensitized erythrocytes is a useful technique for distinguishing between the behavior of different types of bacterial antigens, as illustrated in the present study by the differences between the reaction to tuberculinsensitized and endotoxin-sensitized erythrocytes.