Suppression of immunological memory for a cross‐reactive idiotype in adult mice

摘要

AbstractPrevious investigations have demonstrated the feasibility of suppressing the production of an idiotype, associated with anti‐p‐azophenylarsonate antibodies in A/J mice, by pretreatment of adult mice with anti‐idiotypic antiserum. The present study indicates that immunological memory, with respect to the formation of the cross‐reactive idiotype, can similarly be suppressed in adult mice by intraperitoneal inoculation of rabbit anti‐idiotypic antiserum. There was no concomitant suppression of the formation of anti‐hapten antibody lacking the cross‐reactive idiotype, nor of antibody to the protein carrier. The data indicate that the immunoglobulin receptors present on memory cells are available to the injected anti‐idiotypic antibodies and that these cells are not sequestered. The data do not distinguish between inactivation or destruction of memo