Reciprocal Competition of a Variety of Antigens in the Suppression of Immunologic Reactivity

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Abstract
Summary: Reciprocal competition occurred when C3H and DBA/2 mice were stimulated, within a 6-hr period, with five strong antigens: Brucella abortus, hemocyanin, T2 bacteriophage, typhoidparatyphoid vaccine, and Type II pneumococcal polysaccharide. Antibody levels in the multiply stimulated animals were lower than those of animals stimulated with single antigens. Administration of syngeneic lymphoid cells before multiple stimulation increased antibody levels while administration of allogeneic cells reduced them. The immunologic competence of spleen cells of mice stimulated with the five strong antigens was assessed in the graft-host interactions assay and in the Simonsen graft vs host assay. The findings suggest that the reactivity of the cells in both models is reduced by the prior multiple stimulation of the donor.