Mitotic Response induced in Sensitive Guinea-pigs by Tuberculin

Abstract

NUMEROUS investigations in the past have been directed towards the detection of an in vitro parameter of systemic delayed hypersensitivity. Pearmain, Lycette and Fitzgerald¹ and others^2,3 found in vitro a mitotic responsiveness to tuberculin of peripheral lymphocytes from tuberculin positive human beings, but there is still much to learn about the immunological specificity and dynamics of this phenomenon. Similar in vitro mitotic responsiveness in the appropriately sensitized laboratory animal would have obvious advantages in the study of immune responses. Lycette and Pearmain⁴ claimed to have shown such mitotic activity in lymphocytes from sensitized guinea-pigs, but Marshall and Roberts³ and Aspegren and Rorsman⁵ were unable to obtain such results. The mitotic response of peripheral lymphocytes from guinea-pigs has been studied in our laboratory. Using the technique described here, we have found an excellent correlation between tuberculin skin reactivity and in vitro response.