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. 1970 Feb;18(2):307–317.

The serum antibody response to bacteriophage ΦX174 in germ-free and conventionally reared mice

II. Kinetics of the serum antibody response following primary immunization

P W Stashak, P J Baker, B S Roberson
PMCID: PMC1455536  PMID: 5416642

Abstract

The kinetics of the serum antibody response to various amounts of bacteriophage ΦX174 were compared in germ-free and conventionally reared mice using a 50 per cent neutralization procedure for the assay of neutralizing antibody. Ten- and 100-fold increases in the amount of ΦX174 used to immunize resulted in seven and ten-fold increases, respectively, in the amount of antibody produced in conventionally reared mice; however, the same amounts of antigen produced only 1.3- and 1.9-fold increases in germ-free mice.

Greater SD50 values, i.e. the reciprocal of the highest dilution of serum which neutralized 50 per cent of the added bacteriophage, were obtained in conventionally reared than germ-free mice during the later stages of the antibody response; no other significant differences were noted in the kinetics of the response produced in both groups of animals immunized with high doses of antigen. However, neutralizing antibody was produced at a more rapid rate and in larger amounts in germ-free than conventionally reared mice immunized with a low dose of antigen.

Regardless of the amount of antigen used to immunize, the time of onset of antibody formation was essentially the same (32–35 hours after injection) in both groups of mice. Conventionally reared mice eliminated antigen at half the rate observed in germ-free mice similarly immunized with high doses of ΦX174, but with low doses of antigen, no significant differences in elimination rate were noted.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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