Factors influencing the immune response. I. Effects of the physical state of the antigen and of lymphoreticular cell proliferation on the response to intravenous injection of bovine serum albumin in rabbits

Abstract

The degree of aggregation of bovine serum albumin has been shown to influence not only the quantity of antibody produced but also the magnitude and increase of the relative binding affinity of the antibodies. Corynebacterium parvum which causes massive lymphoreticular cell proliferation initiates `non-specific' factors in the immune system enabling aggregate free bovine serum albumin, which normally induces unresponsiveness or hyporesponsiveness, to induce a hyperresponsive state in rabbits. This organism not only augments antibody production but the magnitude and evolution of the relative binding affinity of the antibodies.