Dialysable leucocyte transfer factor in monkey and man

After review of the literature, this thesis describes the extent of cellular responses to selective antigens in vivo, and to antigens and phytohaemagglutinin in vitro in immunised and transfer factor-treated rhesus monkeys. Preliminary in vitro and fractionation studies of rhesus and human transfer factor preparations are also presented. In immunised animals an antigen-specific active sensitisation was detected by the skin delayed hypersensitivity (DH), the mixed leucocyte-macrophage migration (LMMI) and the lymphocyte transformation (LT) tests. In animals treated with rhesus dialysable transfer factor, adoptive transfer of sensitisation, with a specificity related to antigen- sensitivity of the donor(s) (i.e. "Donor-specific") was detected only by the LMMI-test. The relationship between the various tests was determined. In immunised monkeys, the antigen-stimulated LMMI- and LT-reactivities associated with each other and with the DH-reactivity. In contrast, in transfer factor-treated animals, these reactivities were apparently dissociated. Thus, in transfer factor recipients, dissociation either- reflected different sensitivity of the tests or indicated preferential lymphokine production. Phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated transformation was depressed in immunised animals, whilst 1t was elevated in transfer factor-treated monkeys probably indicating an "adjuvant-like" activity. Thus the results suggest that transfer factor had specific and non-specific in vivo activities 1n the rhesus monkey model. The in vitro study of human or rhesus monkey dialysable transfer factor in antigen-stimulated transformation tests showed augmenting and suppressive effects with antigen-immune or non-1mmune transfer factor. The degree of augmentation was related to the degree of antigen-sensitivity of the "recipient" (1.e. "Recipient-specific"). Thus, the in vitro activity of rhesus monkey or human transfer factor was non-specific. Preliminary Sephadex G-25 chromatography of human and rhesus monkey dialysable transfer factor preparations revealed 9-11 fractionable peaks with different absorption ratios, suggesting heterogeneity of composition.