TERMINATION OF ACQUIRED IMMUNOLOGICAL TOLERANCE TO PROTEIN ANTIGENS FOLLOWING IMMUNIZATION WITH ALTERED PROTEIN ANTIGENS

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Abstract
Acquired tolerance to BSA in rabbits was terminated following the injection of certain preparations of altered BSA. Injections of Freund''s adjuvant containing BSA complexes to anti-BSA, heat-denatured BSA, acetyl-BSA, picryl-BSA, or arsanil-BSA failed to terminate the tolerant state. Injections of Freund''s adjuvant containing sulfanil-BSA terminated the tolerant state, but only small amounts of non-precipitating anti-BSA were produced. Injections of Freund''s adjuvant containing picryl-acetyl-BSA terminated the tolerant state in 2 of 6 rabbits, but again, only small amounts of non-precipitating anti-BSA were produced. On the other hand, injections of Freund''s adjuvant containing arsanil-sulfanil-BSA terminated the tolerant state in 11 of 11 rabbits and caused the production of precipitating anti-BSA in all 9 of the rabbits tested. In addition, the injection of BGG-tolerant rabbits with arsanil-BGG, sulfanil-BGG, or arsanil-sulfanil-BGG terminated the tolerant state. These results were discussed in relation to both the clonal selection theory of antibody production and autoimmunity.