Corneal Cellular Immunity in the Guinea Pig

Guinea pigs were sensitized to cornea or skin by grafting or by injection of corneal homogenates in complete Freund's adjuvant. Delayed-type hypersensitivity responses were studied with intradermal skin tests with tissue extracts. Cellular immune responses by lymph node cells (LNC) and peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) were examined in vitro with the thymidine incorporation and macrophage migration inhibition (MIF) assays, and in vivo by passive transfer of delayed-type hypersensitivity. Both the in vivo and in vitro tests demonstrated that animals sensitized either by grafts or parenteral immunization were systemically hypersensitive. Peritoneal exudate cells from animals passively sensitized with either PEC or LNC responded to antigenic stimulation in vitro with MIF production. Furthermore, the skin tests and in vitro assays demonstrated cross reactively with antigens from cornea and skin but not with homogenates from liver.