Suppression of B Cell Development and Antibody Responses in Mice with Polyclonal Rabbit and Monoclonal Rat Anti-IgM Antibodies

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Abstract
Mice treated from birth with polyclonal, crude or affinity purified rabbit or monoclonal rat anti-mouse IgM antibodies [b-7-6 and C-2-23: Eur. J. Immunol. 14:753–757, 1984] were found to be heavily suppressed with respect to B-cell activities. Crude or affinity purified rabbit or monoclonal rat anti-mouse IgM gave comparable results as follows: (1) serum IgM was below detectable levels; (2) serum IgG was reduced to about 1–3% of normal levels; (3) free anti-IgM was always detectable; (4) IgM and/or Ò¡-light-chain positive cells as well as IgM-secreting cells were absent in various lymphoid organs; (5) the B-cell mitogen lipopolysaccharide was unable to induce proliferative responses; (6) primary antibody responses could not be induced against sheep red blood cells and phosphorylcholine; (7) lymphoid organs were reduced in size and B-cell areas were not populated with lymphocytes; (8) besides a 40% reduction in absolute lymphocyte numbers in the blood, we found increased platelet counts and a 10% eosinophilia in anti-IgM-treated mice.