Abstract
FAILURE of antibody to appear in the serum following large doses of antigen has been reported under varying sets of conditions. In normal adult mice, a life-long state of ‘immunological paralysis’ can be induced by the administration of a sufficient amount of pneumococcal polysaccharide.1 This antigen is known to persist for at least a year, and it may either continuously neutralize antibody as it is formed, or it may inhibit the actual synthesis of antibody.2 These alternatives may be used to explain the more temporary ‘immunological unresponsiveness’ inducible in adult rabbits with massive injections of purified proteins.3 However, when the same protein antigens are administered during fœtal or neonatal life, subsequent antibody formation is inhibited for longer periods.3,4 Apparently, the neonatal cells possess a different order of sensitivity to inhibition. It is not clear whether this inhibition is dependent upon the continuous presence of antigen; but there is a correlation between increasing dosage and prolongation of unresponsiveness.5
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SERCARZ, E., COONS, A. Specific Inhibition of Antibody Formation During Immunological Paralysis and Unresponsiveness. Nature 184, 1080–1082 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1841080a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1841080a0
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