Nonspecific Immunosuppression Associated with Immunological Paralysis Induced by Capsular Polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Abstract

1. Antibody response hardly occurred for about 3 months in mice administered with 50μg per g of body weight of capsular polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPS), while mice responded well when administered with 0.15μg per g of body weight of CPS.
2. Immune response of mice paralyzed by CPS to such unrelated antigens as influenza virus A (PR 8), sheep red blood cells, and flagellar antigen of Salmonella typhosa was partially inhibited.
3. Cold agglutinin to chicken red blood cells was produced in mice paralyzed by CPS. There was a close correlation between the production of cold hemagglutinin and the dose of CPS administered.
4. No blockade of the reticuloendothelial system by India ink affected significantly the immunsuppression of paralyzed mice to the unrelated antigens.
5. Mice paralyzed by CPS showed a marked increace in γ-globulin of the serum and severe hypertrophy of the spleen accompanied by an increase in plasma cells and Russell bodies.