ALLOGENEIC STII~LATION OF THE IMI~NE RESPONSE TO MENINGOCOCCAL POLYSACCHARIDE GROUP A ANTIGEN V. M. Pisarev, A. L. Pukhal'skii A. P. Alliluev, and O. V. Kotel'nikova UDC 612.017.1.014.46:579.861.1]:612.6.05 KEY WORDS: allogeneic stimulation; immune response; genotype; meningococcal polysaccharide group A antigen. Meningococcal polysaccharide antigens (MPA), like other bacterial polysaccharides, can be classed on the basis of several properties among the thymus-independent antigens [i]. The immune response of mice to MPA is insufficiently high even if a wide range of doses is used [3]. The reason for this may be both high activity of T suppressors and the small number of antigen-specific clones of B cells. Investigations of the graft versus host reaction have shown that injection of allogeneic cells significantly increases the number of antibody-form- ing cells (AFC) synthesizing antibodies against both thymus-dependent [6] and thymus-indepen- dent [7] antigens. It appears interesting to study the possibility of enhancing the immune re- sponse of mice to MPA with the aid of the allogeneic reaction. The object of this investigation was to determine the genetic conditions for manifesta- tion of the phenomenon of allogeneic potentiation of the immune response to group A MPA (MPA- A) and also to study this phenomenon during the immune response to other antigens. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD Male mice aged 2-4 months belonging to lines CBA/CaLacSto (H-2k), C57BL/6jSto (H-2b), CC57BR/MvSto (II-2 b) and (CBA • C57BL/6)FI (H-2 kb) hybrids were used. Meningococcal polysac- charide vaccines of groups A and C, prepared by the production unit of the G. N. Gabrichevskii Moscow Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology [2], and also typhoid Vi-antigen and sheep's red blood cells (SRBC) were used as antigens. Mice were immunized intravenously with MPA-A and MPA-C in the optimal dose of 0.5 ~g [3], with Vi-antigen in a dose of 2 >g, TABLE i. Allogeneic Stimulation of Immune Response to MPAA Group Donors Recip- No. of NSC ients -- F~ CBA F1 C57BL/6 F1 -- CBA C57BL/6 CBA CC57B R C57BL/6 CC57BR Mum- Number of AFC ber of. !~Urmo~ in spleen expert- . ments mlee 43O (278--665) 16710 (8730--31920) 10140 (7551 - - 13580) 2985 (1614--5508) 1706 (775--3758) 2 1545 (977--2432) 3 9616 (5585--16560) 3 36 12 33 12 21' 20 Institute of Medical Genetics, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, G. M. Gabrichevskii Moscow Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. (Presented by Acade- mician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR N. P. Bochkov.) Translated from Byul- leten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 95, No. 6, pp. 92-93, June, 1983. Orig- inal article submitted December 17, 1982 834 0007-4888/83/9506-0834507.50 9 1983 Plenum Publishing Corporation