THE EFFECT OF NEONATAL SPLENECTOMY ON MORTALITY FROM RUNT DISEASE IN MICE

Abstract

The fate of homologous spleen cells injected i.v. into neonatal mice is not known precisely. The mortality from runt disease in the new hosts is cut in half if their spleens are removed shortly after the cells have been injected. This suggests that a majority of the injected spleen cells immediately settle in the spleen of the new host from which they initiate a lethal graft-vs-host reaction. These data further suggest, however, that the spleen is not necessary for the occurrence of runt disease for when it was removed prior to the inoculation of adult spleen cells, the mortality was the same as in nonsplenectomized, injected controls. Evidently the injected cells can survive elsewhere in the host and mount an effective attack against it.