MODE OF ACTION OF MINERAL-OIL EMULSION ADJUVANTS ON ANTIBODY PRODUCTION IN MICE

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  • 1 January 1968
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 14  (3) , 301-+
Abstract
Mice given a single subcutaneous inoculation of highly-purified ovalbumin in water-in-oil emulsion yielded peak antibody titers which were about 500 times those stimulated by the same dose of ovalbumin without adjuvant, and which remained at the peak level for at least a yr. Neither the oil, or the emulsifier, or the emulsion itself stimulated a response of this type when injected at a separate site from the antigen. The response was not affected by a simultaneous subcutaneous injection of anti-ovalbumin, the later inoculations of ovalbumin in saline. Ovalbumin was detectable in emulsion recovered from injected mice for up to 544 days after inoculation and its half-life within the emulsion was about 90 days. This type of adjuvant may exert its effect solely by the slow and even release of very tiny quantities of antigen over a long period of time. A mechanism by which such a release may take place is suggested.