An experimental system for the production of antibodies in response to cryosurgical procedures

Abstract

Summary Localized freezing of tissue in rabbits by means of a liquid nitrogen-cooled probe has been shown to stimulate antibody formation in certain situations. Successful induction of antibody formation has been achieved in rabbits after intensive but brief freezing of parts of the male accessory glands of reproduction. Positive results were obtained reproducibly with antibody titers that were generally high, as measured by the method of tanned cell hemagglutination. This was the result of an experimental procedure of freezing and additional cooling, in which the coagulating gland was frozen and cooled, followed by further freezing and cooling of seminal vesicle tissue. In comparison, an earlier one-step procedure stimulated lower and less reproducible responses. Temperature profiles (freeze-thaw-time curves) were obtained by feeding the thermocouple outputs into a multichannel recording instrument. Rates of freezing were established by either of two procedures, using a single temperature set point or a stepwise series of several set points. The rates were of the order of 0.1 to 1.0°C per sec. Distinct peculiarities were shown in the nature of the temperature changes with time, indicative of asymmetric freezing. The modified freezing procedure reported here has produced antibody levels of appreciable titer in 7 out of 7 rabbits, as compared with 6 out of 12 rabbits with the use of the previous, simpler procedure. The possible mechanisms that may be responsible for the induction of antibody formation by cryosurgical destruction of tissue are discussed.