We have shown that the palatine tonsil effectively incorporates exogenous foreign substances instilled at its surface. It is not clear whether antigen‐specific IgA can be induced by the instillation. Sheep red blood cells (SRBC) were instilled at the palatine tonsil every three days as the antigen, and the agglutination titer of specific IgA in saliva was examined. Nasal or intragastric administration, which have been shown to induce specific antibody in saliva, were done as control experiments. Anti‐SRBC antibody in saliva from the tonsillar instillation group was detected in the second week, and the agglutination titer reached a maximum in the 6th week after the instillation. The maximum titers in the tonsillar instillation group and nasal administration group were 16 (P<0.01, n=7) and 4 times (P<0.01, n = 7) higher, respectively, than that in the intragastric administration group. In the tonsillar instillation group, the number of specific antibody‐producing cells per 105 lymphocytes was the highest in the parotid glands compared with the lymphoid tissues such as the retropharyngeal lymph nodes, nasal mucosa, mesenteric lymph nodes, Peyer's patches, cervical lymph nodes, palatine tonsil and spleen. In the nasal administration group, the number of lymphocytes was the highest in the nasal mucosa. The results indicate that tonsillar instillation was more effective than nasal administration in inducing specific IgA in saliva.
The palatine tonsil is thought to be the organ which accepts antigens to initiate an immunological response, but the incorporation of the antigens from the oral cavity was not yet known. To show this incorporation, fluorescence-labeled Candida albicans and a lipopolysaccharide were instilled around the rabbit palatine tonsil. The distribution of fluorescence was examined in frozen sections of the tonsil after 30 , 60 and 180 minutes of the instillation. Candida albicans and a lipopolysaccharide were incorporated into the cryptoepitherial tissue of the palatine tonsil within 30 minutes. The antigens in the epithelium were transported to the intratonsillar follicles and partly to the deep cervical lymph nodes after 60 minutes. The lipopolysaccharide was found intrafollicular by in both the tonsil and the deep cervical lymph nodes earlier than Candida albicans was. Because the normal cryptoepithelium easily passed through the external antigens which were transported to the neighboring lymphoid follicles, it was suggested that the cryptoepithelium was the entrance of the immunological response in the palatine tonsil and neighboring lymphoid tissues in the normal condition.
It was expected that the bacterial plaque in the gingival crevice elicited immune response in periodontal diseases. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the immune response which is elicited by the antigens injected from periodontium in rats, Rats were immunized by the gingival injection of proteins, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and ultrasonicated extracts of Eschen'chin coti, Actinoiiayces naeslundii, PbrPdyromonas gingivalis for three tirnes a month. The number of the antibody-secreting cells in spleen and submandibullar lymph nodes were counted. The IgG subclasses of antigen specific antibodies were determined. The concentrations of cytokines which may affect the antibody secretion were also measured. In the results of antibody-secreting cells, all of antigens induced antibody secretion in submandibullar lymph nodes, LPS greatly induced that in spleen as well. The predominant antibody in response to protein antigens was IgGl subclass, that to LPS was IgG2a subclass, and that to three bacterial extracts was IgG2a subclass. The results showed that the subclass of antibody secretion in response to the imrnunization depended on the chemical composition of antigen. The concentration of interleukin (IL)-1 decreased and that of IL-6 increased in the serum after three times gingival injections of all kinds of antigens. The result showed that LPS greatly induced the response both in lymph nodes and in spleen. It was well-known that the concentration of LPS in periodontal tissue of the patients was higher than that of normal subjects. It was suggested that the immune response in periodontal disease occurred both in neighboring periodontal tissue and in central immune organ.
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