Temporal Studies on Suppression by X-Ray of Adaptation for the Secondary Antibody Response

Abstract

Suppression of adaptation for a secondary antibody response was studied in rabbits exposed to severe whole-body x-radiation at various intervals after an injection of bovine γ-globulin. The tanned-cell hemagglutinin response to a test reinjection of BGG at least 49 days after x-radiation was used to assess the degree of suppression. Administered 4 to 42 days after antigen, 450 r gave, in limited studies, only irregular results. A dose of 550 r administered 7 to 31 days after antigen gave similarly inconsistent supression, but this dose of x-rays administered 35 to 378 days after antigen resulted in essentially complete and permanent erasure of immunologic memory, so that the treated animals manifested typical responses of primary grade after reexposure to antigen. These results suggest that the attainment of a stable condition of adaptation for secondary antibody formation is a slow process. The transformations initiated by a dose of antigen apparently require a period of 4 to 5 weeks before adaptation is fully developed.