Passive Serologic Transfer of Allograft Immunity in Immunologically Suppressed Mice

The administration of rabbit anti-mouse lymphocyte serum (RAMLS) plus cortisone to secondary C57 hosts prolonged the survival of A skin grafts transferred from untreated C57 primary hosts 48 hr after initial grafting. The administration of C57 anti-A immune mouse serum (IMS) to the primary C57 hosts reversed the RAMLS-cortisone induced prolongation in the secondary C57 hosts. The prolonged survival of BALB/c grafts on RAMLS plus cortisone-treated secondary C57 hosts was not influenced by administration of C57 anti-A IMS to the primary C57 hosts. A circulating lymphopenia of similar degree was noted in RAMLS plus cortisone-treated secondary C57 hosts after receiving A grafts from either IMS-treated or untreated C57 primary hosts. The administration of IMS to primary C57 hosts resulted in the rejection of a significant number of A skin grafts which had been transferred to A secondary hosts. The results support the thesis that humoral antibody bound to the graft can participate in allograft rejection, perhaps in synergism with a nonspecific cytotoxic effect of lymphocytes.