STUDIES ON THE RUNTING SYNDROME IN NEWBORN MICE

Abstract

It has been reported by several workers (Billingham, Simonsen, Woodruff, and others) that mice, chicks or rats, treated with homologous adult spleen cells, in utero or shortly after birth, become ill and die within 2 to 3 weeks after birth. This condition, the runting syndrome, has generally been regarded as the result of an immunological reaction of the foreign cells against the host. Our data support the previously described explanation of the runting syndrome, and indicate that homologous lymph node cells caused runting of newborn mice if administered intraperitoneally within one day after birth; while homologous kidney cells, isologous spleen cells, or killed homologous spleen cells failed to produce runting. The incidence of runting was found to depend upon the particular combination of donor and recipient strains used, to increase with increased dose of spleen cells, and to decrease as the time interval between birth and the administration of the foreign cells was increased. Procedures designed to enable the newborn mouse to react immunologically against the foreign spleen cells protected against runting. Isologous, adult, spleen cells, if given within 1/2 hour after the homologous cells, conferred protection against runting. Serum obtained from adult mice which had been immunized against the spleen cell donor''s strain protected newborn mice from being runted by homologous spleen cells. Offspring of mice which had been immunized against the strain to be used as spleen donor were protected against runting. Our results indicate the possible importance of the circulating type of antibody in the immunological reaction by which an animal destroys foreign tissue.