Effect of the normal microflora and age and sex of rats on the serum IgG2 level

Germfree and ordinary rats, bred in the laboratory, and rats obtained from nurseries were used. IgG₂ was isolated from the serum of noninbred rats and a rabbit antiserum against it obtained. By radial immunodiffusion the quantity of this immunoglobulin was determined in the blood serum of different groups of animals. The IgG₂ content in germfree rats of the Fisher strain was only 19% of that in animals of this strain obtained from the nursery, and in females it was 10–15% higher than in males. The IgG₂ level in newborn rats within a few hours after birth was identical regardless of its concentration in the maternal blood serum. The results may be used as standards for various immunological experiments on rats.Laboratory of Gnotobiology, 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 P. A. Vershilova.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 86, No. 9, pp. 335–337, September, 1978.