The effect of 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene and azobenzene on the immune reaction of male Sprague-Dawley rats.

The carcinogenic substance 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene and the non-carcinogen azobenzene were administered orally once a day to male Sprague-Dawley rats over several weeks at an equimolar dosage of 5-10(-5) moles/kg. Their immunological properties were examined in four different tests. The two substances suppress the cellular immune reactions of the rats already during the first month of treatment. The degree of efficiency of the immunosuppressive property decrease with the degree of antigenicity of the test antigen. Even a two-month treatment of the animals with the two substances had no evident influence on antibody formation. Correlations between the immune response and the carcinogenic effect were not demonstrable.