The Potency of BCG Vaccine Determined by the Tuberculin Shock Method on Hamsters

Abstract

BCG vaccinated hamsters, in contrast to non-vaccinated, have been shown to be sensitive to tuberculin injected intraperitoneally. An introductory study showed that hamsters vaccinated with a strongly potent BCG strain were killed by tuberculin shock using about the same dose of purified tuberculin as in experiments on guinea pigs. I n the main experiment, hamsters were vaccinated with vaccines prepared from BCG strains of weak, medium or strong potency, and injected with a large dose of tuberculin. I t was demonstrated that the number of animals that died of shock was significantly different in the groups vaccinated with the three vaccines. Thus this method can be used for determination of the potency of a vaccine. The strains examined originated from the Danish strain of BCG received from Paris in 1931.Received 18.xii.72 Accepted 2O.xii.72 Requests for reprints should be addressed to: D r A n d r . Jespersen,

Potency of Purified Tuberculin Determined by the Shock Method on Hamsters

“…Previous experiments (Jespersen 1973) have shown that the dose of purified tuberculin which can induce shock in BCG immunized hamsters is about the same as that required for similarly immunized guinea pigs. Furthermore, it has been proved that the potency of a BCG vaccine can be determined on the basis of the tuberculin shock method.…”