IMMUNE MECHANISMS IN PARABIOSIS INTOXICATION

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Abstract
When A mice are placed in parabiosis with (A X C57Bl/l)Fi hybrids, the A strain partners become polycythemic and the hybrids anemic; all hybrids develop clinical intoxiation and die within 1 month. The role of immune mechanisms in intoxication was explored by increasing or decreasing the level of immunological reactivity of one or both partners. Early anemia-polycythemia (AP) was characteristic of pairs in all experimental groups. Late AP was associated with hybrid intoxication and early death, and did not appear in the groups in which there was no hybrid intoxication (lethally irradiated or specifically tolerant A partners). Pre-immunization of the A partners against C57B1/1 strain tissues intensified both AP and hybrid intoxication. Thymectomy of the A partners did not prevent AP or hybrid intoxication, but thymectomy of both partners did, suggesting that thymectomized A strain mice may be immunologically restored by parabiosis with intact (thymus-bearing) F1 hybrids.