Sad S, Gupta H M, Talwar G P, Raghupathy R
National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India.
J Reprod Immunol. 1991 Jul;20(2):189-94. doi: 10.1016/0165-0378(91)90035-o.
Immunization of rats and monkeys with the decapeptide gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) linked to carriers such as diphtheria toxoid (DT) or tetanus toxoid (TT) results in a marked atrophy of the prostate. This vaccine is now being explored for its potential in the "immunosurgery" of prostatic hypertrophy in men and is currently undergoing Phase I/II clinical trials. We have been investigating immunogenetic aspects of immune responses to this hapten-carrier conjugate, and in a recent communication we described the responses of different strains of mice to GnRH conjugated to DT (GnRH-DT). Mice of the 129 (H-2b) strain were found to be non-responders to GnRH. However, further immunization of GnRH-DT-immunized 129 mice with GnRH linked to an alternate carrier, TT, resulted in the production of high levels of anti-GnRH antibodies. This showed that 129 mice are not deficient in GnRH-specific B cells and that the lack of response to GnRH in 129 mice is possibly due to (i) the lack of appropriate helper T-cells or (ii) the presence of suppressor cells. In this report we present evidence to support the existence of suppressor cells in GnRH-DT-immunized 129 mice.
用与诸如白喉类毒素（DT）或破伤风类毒素（TT）等载体相连的十肽促性腺激素释放激素（GnRH）对大鼠和猴子进行免疫，会导致前列腺显著萎缩。这种疫苗目前正在探索其在男性前列腺肥大“免疫手术”中的潜力，并且正在进行I/II期临床试验。我们一直在研究对这种半抗原 - 载体结合物免疫反应的免疫遗传学方面，并且在最近的一篇通讯中我们描述了不同品系小鼠对与DT偶联的GnRH（GnRH - DT）的反应。发现129（H - 2b）品系的小鼠对GnRH无反应。然而，用与另一种载体TT相连的GnRH对经GnRH - DT免疫的129小鼠进行进一步免疫，会产生高水平的抗GnRH抗体。这表明129小鼠中不存在GnRH特异性B细胞缺陷，并且129小鼠对GnRH缺乏反应可能是由于（i）缺乏合适的辅助性T细胞或（ii）存在抑制细胞。在本报告中，我们提供证据支持在经GnRH - DT免疫的129小鼠中存在抑制细胞。
