Transfer of Allergic Encephalomyelitis Using Splenectomized Albino Rats.

Abstract

Previous transfers of allergic encephalomyelitis (AE) in randomly bred albino rats with lymph node cells (LNC) of spinal cord-sensitized donors entailed use of recipients rendered tolerant by pretreatment with spleen cells of the prospective LNC donors. Further study indicates that splenectomy of LNC donors facilitates transfer of AE. LNC (200 - 500 x 106) from 17 donors, splenectomized 7-14 days before being sensitized to spinal cord plus adjuvant, transferred AE to 5 of 12 splenectomized recipients and 2 of 6 intact (non-splenectomized) recipients, respectively. Comparable numbers of LNC from 11 intact (non-splenectomized) sensitized donors did not transfer AE to 6 splenectomized and 5 intact recipients, respectively. This simplified method of transferring AE by means of LNC in commercially available albino rats provides an additional means of ultimately defining the immune mechanism(s) responsible for the disease.