The influence of maternal humoral responsiveness on the specific immunocompetence of the progeny in mice.
The progeny of mice immunized during pregnancy with burro erythrocytes have an impaired ability to respond to that antigen. The suppression, which is shown to be of relatively short duration, lasting for between 8 and 12 weeks, is mediated by antibody transferred from mother to offspring via the milk, thus confirming the observations of previous workers. The experiments described in this paper show that passive immunization of the dams with "late" (greater than 200 days) low titre but high affinity antisera is as effective in feedback suppression as "early" (8-12 days) high titre but low affinity antisera. The high affinity antibodies in "late" antisera, like the low affinity antibodies of "early" antisera, are mainly transmitted via the milk and are apparently not, or are only minimally, transferred across the placenta.
Dresser
D W
DW
National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, U.K.
D000818:Animals; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007112:Immunity, Maternally-Acquired; D007114:Immunization; D007116:Immunization, Passive; D007121:Immunocompetence; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D010527:Perissodactyla; D011247:Pregnancy