title: Fine-specificity of the contact sensitivity to 4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl acetyl (NP).
abstract: Dorf and colleagues (1-4) found that the contact sensitivity (CS) primed with (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl (NP) could be elicited as easily with the iodoanalog (NIP) as with NP when studied in Igh-1b mice but could only be elicited with NP, not NIP, in Igh-1j mice. Since this fine-specificity was parallel to the fine-specificity of anti-NP antibodies in the two types of mice and since anti-NP antibodies of Igh-1b mice are controlled by gene Igh-NPb the authors concluded that CS also was controlled by the Igh-NPb gene. The aim of this study was to confirm their findings with a more quantitative method (5). We confirmed equality of NP and NIP as elicitors of NP-primed CS in Igh-1b mice when the priming antigen was given subcutaneously into non-cyclophosphamide-treated mice (their method). We also found that this priming induced an anti-NP antibody response detectable at the time of challenge. Most experiments were carried out with a method that does not induce a detectable antibody response (pretreatment of mice with 200 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide; application of the sensitizing compound on skin). Since the NP-primed (and NBrP-primed) CS reactions exhibited "expected specificities," the immunizing compound was clearly the most efficient elicitor (relative efficiencies of homologs varied from 2 to 4). The Igh-NPb gene appears not to have a role in "antibody-free" reactions.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003429:Cross Reactions; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000494:pharmacology; D003877:Dermatitis, Contact / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology*; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D009596:Nitrophenols / Q000276:immunology*; D010648:Phenylacetates
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D009596:Nitrophenols; D010648:Phenylacetates; C026242:4-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl acetic acid; D003520:Cyclophosphamide