Immunological attack on newborn chickens by injected adult cells

Abstract

When blood from pure I adult fowls is injected into newly hatched chicks of a cross between two highly inbred lines of White Leghorn (C and I) gross enlargement of the spleen and liver results. F₁ blood injected into F₁ chicks, and either I or F₁ blood injected into I chicks, produce only a relatively slight enlargement, which is attributable to antigenic diversity within the C line, and to a much lesser extent within the I line, already known to exist from skin grafting tests. This strongly supports the hypothesis that these symptoms, together with haemolytic anaemia and other associated symptoms described by Simonsen (1957), are due to an immune reaction of the injected cells against the host. This implies that chicken leucocytes are capable of initiating antibody production and transplantation immunity. Subcutaneous injections of blood sometimes produce swellings at the site of injection. No symptoms were found in F₁ adults into which I blood had been injected; the reason for this is not known.