Appearance of an Early “Primed State” in Mice following the Concomitant Injections of Antigen and Specific Antiserum

Abstract

Injection of mice with immune complexes formed with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and rabbit anti-BSA in antigen excess produced an enhanced anti-BSA response. An enhanced antibody response was also obtained when immune complexes prepared at equivalence were injected intravenously and a second antigen injection was made within 4 days. The results suggest that immune complexes elicit within a few days a “primed state” which is identical to the primed state observed weeks after a single antigen injection; that is, the kinetics of the appearance of antibody and the effect of whole-body irradiation upon the antibody response following the second antigen injection were similar to those observed in mice primed with antigen alone. The role of antibody and antigen-antibody complexes in eliciting a primed state is discussed.