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The Effect of Age on the Response of Rat Lymphocytes in Mixed Leukocyte Culture, to Pha, and in the Graft-vs-Host Reaction¹

Institute for Experimental Immunology, University of Copenhagen, DK 21oo Copenhagen , Denmark

Abstract

The effect of age of donor rats on phytohemagglutinin (PHA), mixed leukocyte culture (MLC), and graft-vs-host (GVH) activity of blood and lymph node lymphocytes was examined by the culture technique of Sørensen et al. (1) and the popliteal lymph node assay for GVH activity (2). An MLC response against allogeneic cells was demonstrable in blood lymphocytes of some litters within 24 hr after birth. The MLC response increased during the 1st month of life. Between 1 and 16 months of age the MLC and PHA response decreased markedly when measured on day 4 and 2, respectively, whereas GVH activity measured on day 7 increased slightly. These results were accounted for by finding an increased lag period before DNA synthesis began in vitro. There was no difference between the rate of increase of DNA synthesis in young and old animals. It is concluded that the proportion of lymphocytes reactive to strong histocompatibility antigens does not decrease between 1 and 16 months of age.

Footnotes

¹ This work was supported by a grant from Carl J. Becker's Foundation to the author and a grant from The Danish Medical Research Council to Morten Simonsen.