Leishmania mexicana and Leishmania tropica major: Adoptive transfer of immunity in mice

Abstract

The transfer of lymphocytes from NIH mice infected with Leishmania tropica major to nonimmune syngeneic mice, which had received 600 rad irradiation, markedly altered the course of subsequent Leishmania mexicana and L.t. major infections in these animals, when compared with infections in irradiated mice reconstituted with lymphocytes from uninfected animals. Some resistance to L. mexicana could be transferred with unfractionated lymphocytes, mixed nylon wool adherent, and nonadherent lymphocytes and to a lesser extent by nylon wool nonadherent cells alone but not by the adherent population. When the recipients of “immune” lymphocytes were infected with L.t. major the resulting lesions were either small and did not ulcerate, or grew rapidly, ulcerated, and healed. The course of L.t. major in the recipients depended on whether the donor of “immune” lymphocytes had a healed or a healing lesion. Immunity to L.t. major was largely associated with the nylon wool nonadherent population.