THE NATURE OF THE IMMUNOLOGIC INADEQUACY OF NEONATAL RABBITS

Abstract

It has been shown that cells from neonatal rabbits are capable of producing considerable amounts of antibody after exposure to antigen in vitro and transfer to x-radiated adult recipients. This suggests that the immunological inadequacy of these neonates is not dependent primarily upon the lack of cells capable of antibody formation. Both in vitro sensitized neonatal lymphoid cells and in vivo sensitized adult lymphoid cells made much more antibody after transfer to x-rayed adult recipients than to neonatal recipients. Possible reasons for and significance of these observations are pointed out in the discussion.