Effect of Complement Inactivated Rabbit Antichick Brain Serum on Thymic and Splenic Lymphocytes

Abstract

The effects on in vitro exposure of chicken thymic-dependent lymphocytes to complement inactivated rabbit antichick brain serum (RACB) previously absorbed with normal serum (ns) and kidney (k) [RACB^{ns, k}] was investigated. Spleen lymphocytes which normally initiate a ‘graft vs. host’ reaction give rise to much more intense reactions when treated with (RACB)^{ns, k}. This may be due to increased antigenicity of the donor cell and/or stimulation of the donor T cell. Migration studies showed that chicken thymocytes are capable of in vitro migration which can be inhibited by exposure to (RACB)^{ns, k}. Thymocytes pretreated with (RACB)^{ns, k} were found to express factor(s) capable of inhibiting thymocyte migration. The correlation between lymphokines and increased splenomegaly was discussed.