The role of the spleen and the dynamics of hemolysin production in homologous anamnesis.

Abstract

Our previous studies on the dynamics of hemolysin production in rabbits after single (1950) and multiple (1951) intravenous injections of sheep red cells have been extended to include a study of the homologous anamnestic response following single and multiple reinjections with the same antigen into intact rabbits and into rabbits splenectomized either at the time of the initial injection or of the reinjection. After an induction period, hemolysin begins to be produced rapidly at one continuous rate of accumulation (cf. fig. 8B) or at two (cf. fig. 12) or more rates to peak titer and thereafter generally declines at several varying rates. Our results indicate that peak antibody titer after both the initial rise and anamnestic rise is due chiefly to the activity of the spleen after a single injection of antigen and is due, relatively, more to the activity of nonsplenic sources after repeated injections of antigen. A review of the literature and a dis-