Rats
made immunologically tolerant of human plasma proteins were inoculated with sera from patients with systemic L. E. The L. E. cell phenomenon was reproduced in the blood of these animals. The duration of activity of the transferred antinuclear factors was observed to be very transient in contrast to the relatively long persistence of human gamma globulin in the rat sera. Rattos rendite immunologicamente tolerante pro proteinas de plasma human recipeva inoculationes de seros ab patientes con systemic lupus erythematose. Le phenomeno del cellulas L.E. esseva reproducite in le sanguine de iste animales. Le duration del activitate del transferite factores antinucleari esseva observatemente transitorissime per contrasto con le relativemente longe persistentia de human globulina gamma in le sero de rattos. HE PATHOGENETIC SIGNIFICANCE of the antinuclear protein activ-T ity in the sera of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (S.L.E.) and other collagen vascular diseases remains obscure. Its possible role in the autoimmune mechanism is the subject of much speculation.lS2 Passive transfer of serum containing antinuclear activity has not reproduced disease. A technical difficulty lies in obtaining a suitable test animal upon which to perform prolonged passive transfer experiments using sera from human patients with S.L.E. without eliciting an immune response to foreign proteins. This report describes initial experiments utilizing animals which have bee; made immunologically tolerant to human sera in order to assay in vivo activity of transfused human antinuclear factors.
Methods
Sprague-Dawley, Wistar rats of both sexes were inoculated intraperitoneally within 2 hours of birth with 0.3 ml. of pooled human plasma. They were similarly inoculated at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks of age and each month thereafter. At age 4 months their sera were tested for the presence of antibody against human serum protein. Serologic technics incuded the micro-ring precipitation reaction, Ouchterlony agar double diffusion, hemagghtination, and skin testing. TO test immune tolerance, groups of normal and tolerant rats were inoculated with 0.5 ml. of pooled human serum every 3 days. By 2 weeks, antihuman