SEROLOGICAL STUDIES ON RABBIT ANTIBODIES TO THE RABBIT ANTERIOR PITUITARY

Abstract

Rabbits immunized with suspensions or extracts of rabbit anterior pituitary in Freund adjuvant may develop specific antibodies to components of the rabbit pituitary. Immunofluorescent staining with such antisera occurred in isolated cells of the anterior pituitary. These correspond to cells stained with acid fuchsin, i.e. acidophils or alpha cells. Some of the pituitary antisera fix complement with pituitary extracts. A tanned-cell haemagglutination test using pituitary extracts as coating antigen yielded positive reactions with some of the pituitary antisera. The rabbit antisera appeared to be specific for the anterior pituitary within the limits of the rabbit organs tested. Hog, guinea-pig, dog and beef pituitaries share the antigen, but monkey and human pituitaries fail to react.

Immunofluorescent staining revealed that antisera reacted with the pituitary of the antibody producing rabbit, i.e. the sera contain pituitary autoantibodies. No direct or indirect evidence for pathological changes in the autoantibody producing animals could be found.