Abstract
On the purpose of the elucidation of the autoimmune disease, it was attempted to clarify the time and the organs in which autoantibody-producing cells develop, their kinds and ways of proliferation, and the relationship between these cells and the antinuclear antibody using the NZB × NZW F_1 hybrid mice. The autoantibody-producing cells were observed according to the immunocyte adherence method. As the antigen were used sheep erythrocytes having absorbed DNA or histone. The antibody-producing cells were obtained from the cells of the spleen, thymus, bone marrow and lymph nodes. The specificity of the reaction was confirmed by the blocking and the reculture after the blocking. Most of the antibody-producing cells were lymphocytes. The autoantibody-producing lymphocytes were noted in the spleen, thymus and lymph nodes preceding to the change to positivity for the antinuclear antibody in serum. In females at the age of 2 months, the autoantibody-producing lymphocytes were seen in about 1% in the spleen and 0.2% or less in the thymus. After 4 months of age, the autoantibody-producing cells appeared in the thymus and spleen in a similar percentage in females. The autoantibody-producing lymphocytes were rarely detected in normal mice (DD strain). This atutoantibody-producing cell is conceivable to belong to a clone or clones of lymphocytes which have developed through mutations.
