The serum antibody response to bacteriophage phi chi 174 in germ-free and conventionally reared mice. II. Kinetics of the serum antibody response following primary immunization.

Abstract

The kinetics of the serum antibody response to various amounts of bacteriophage ΦX174 were compared in germ-free and conventionally reared mice using a 50 per cent neutralization procedure for the assay of neutralizing antibody. Ten- and 100-fold increases in the amount of ΦX174 used to immunize resulted in seven and ten-fold increases, respectively, in the amount of antibody produced in conventionally reared mice; however, the same amounts of antigen produced only 1.3- and 1.9-fold increases in germ-free mice.