Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis in Thymectomized, Bursectomized and Normal Chickens

Abstract

Chickens were bursectomized or thymectomized at the age of 2 days and sensitized by intradermal or intramuscular injection of chicken or ox spinal cords in complete Freund''s adjuvant at the age of 8-9 weeks. Bursectomized or normal birds developed clinical and histological signs of encephalomyelitis with regularity, in contrast to the thymectomized ones whose reactivity was greatly impaired. The sensitized birds showed skin reactivity of the delayed type on injection of the neural antigens into the wattle. However, they also showed strong reactions with tuberculin. Reactivity of the birds'' serum to the antigens, as measured by gel diffusion, hemagglutinin and complement fixation tests, was minimal or at best doubtful. Suspensions of spleen cells from sensitized animals to normal ones transferred reactivity, though this could be demonstrated only by histological examination.