Immunological competence of T and B lymphocytes in clophosphamide-induced tolerance

Immunological competence of T and B lymphocytes of mice was studied 7 days after induction of tolerance by injection of a massive dose of sheep's red cells and cyclophosphamide. The ability of lymphocytes of the tolerant mice to influence cooperation between normal T and B lymphocytes also was investigated. This particular form of tolerance was shown to be due not to suppressor T cells, but to a true deficiency of helper T cells (in both the thymus and spleen) and, to some extent also, of B cells (in the spleen). The very small deficiency of B cells in the bone marrow was connected with the nonspecific action of cyclophosphamide. It is postulated that cyclophosphamide selectively eliminates cells proliferating under the influence of the antigen.Laboratory of Immunological Tolerance, N. F. Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR O. V. Baroyan.) Translated from Byullenten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 445–447, April, 1976.