The role of antigen absorption in the resistance of brown-Norway rats to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis.
The designation of Brown-Norway (BN) rats as resistant to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an oversimplification. Lewis rats are susceptible and BN rats are usually resistant to EAE after inoculation with guinea pig spinal cord or basic protein in Freund's adjuvant. However, EAE can be produced in BN rats by immunizing with rat cord and carbonyl iron, a particulate adjuvant. In the present work, the possibility that susceptibility of BN rats under these conditions is due only to the special qualities of the adjuvant has been eliminated by producing EAE in them without any adjuvant at all, merely by increasing the absorption and processing of the rat cord antigen. The susceptibility of the F1 hybrids is intermediate with respect to guinea pig cord antigen but it was equal to or greater than either parental strain when tested with rat cord antigen. Histologic evidence that BN rats do not absorb or process neural antigen as well as other strains, and the augmentation of EAE by increasing the dose and absorption of the inoculum, suggest that antigen absorption, processing and presentation is a "bottleneck" for development of EAE in BN rats. Absorption and processing of antigen should be considered along with cellular response, inflammatory mediators and epitope dominance when analyzing susceptibility and resistance to EAE.
Levine
S
S
Pathology Department, New York Medical College, Valhalla 10595.
Saltzman
A
A
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D007114:Immunization; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN / Q000276:immunology*; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains / Q000276:immunology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000276:immunology
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000941:Antigens; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein