Experimental Arteritis Produced Immunologically in Rabbits

Abstract

Pathological changes in the aorta and its major branches, which were similar, at least in part, to those seen in patients with aortitis syndrome, could be produced in rabbits by long-term administration of the isologous aortic extracts or the patients' sera containing anti-aorta antibodies of a high titer. The occurrence of vascular changes was preceded by a rise in the titer of the circulating complement fixing antibodies against the isologous aorta, suggesting that the vascular lesions are the product of a specific antigen-antibody reaction.
The results of the present study may support the authors' opinion that a certain immune mechanism participates in the development of arterial lesions in patients with aortitis syndrome.