After the immunization of pigmented guinea pigs with bovine´ rod outer segments in completeFreund´s adjuvant,.the regional lymphnodes were excised, teased and sedimented by centrifugation.
These fresh lymphocytes. wete injected intravitreally (a single injection of 10x10 cells in 50 ?l) in 18 eyes. The involvement of the ciliary body and the choroid with polymorphonuclear leucoytes and later with round cells was noted in 16 eyes. Destructions of the visual cells of the retina were demonstrated in 8 eyes. When the fresh lymphocytes were injected subconjunctivally (50 x 10 cells in 30 ,?1) four times, four of the 8 eyes showed slight infiltrations of the ciliary body and the choroid with round cells. No retinal lesion was found.
Following repeated freezing and thawing of the lymphocytes, transfer experiments were: performed with the nonviable cells and their extracts respectively. In 8 eyes injected intravit-really with nonviable cells, 2 eyes showed the infiltration of the uvea with round cells, whereas. of 6 eyes injected subconjunctivally, only one eye showed such changes.
The extracts of lymphocytes were injected intravitreally in 8 eyes of which 5 eyes demonstrated moderate degree of infiltration of the uvea. Of 2 eyes injected subconjunctivally, 2 eyes. showed slight histological changes.
As control experiments, lymphocytes taken from animals immunized only with the adjuvant were treated as before and transferred to normal animals. Only one eye of 3 eyes received single intravitreal injection of fresh cells showed slight degree of infiltration of the uvea.
Thus it can be concluded that the experimental autoimmune uveitis in guinea pigs could be transferred to normal animals by the transfer of non-viable lymphocytes and especially by their extracts.
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