Fig 3.

Induction of antinucleolar autoantibodies (ANolAs) of various IgG isotypes in mercury- and silver-treated A.SW (H-2^s), FVB/N (H-2^q) and A.CA (H-2^f) mice. Groups of female A.SW (H-2^s) (solid and open circles), FVB/N (H-2^q) (solid and open squares) and A.CA (H-2^f) (solid and open polygons) mice were injected repeatedly subcutaneously (s.c.) with HgCl₂ (solid symbols, upper panel) or AgNO₃ (solid symbols, lower panel) and/or NaCl (open symbols upper and lower panels) for 4 weeks. At the end of each experiment the mice were bled and killed. The sera were tested for the presence of ANolA using an indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) method. Hep-2 cell line was used as the substrate. Data are shown as mean + 1 s.e. Significant differences between the parameters in mercury- or silver- and saline-injected mice were calculated by Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test. *P < 0·05; **P < 0·01; ***P < 0·001.N.T.: not tested.