Requirements for antigenic competition in contact sensitivity.

The requirements for the induction of antigenic competition in murine contact sensitivity have been examined. Experiments with a variety of skin-sensitizing chemicals revealed a correlation between immunogenicity and the ability to inhibit subsequent responses to an unrelated contact allergen, oxazolone. Previous studies have suggested that, in contact sensitivity at least, antigenic competition is the consequence of a reduced lymphocyte proliferative response to the second antigen. We investigated whether the regulatory events which impair proliferation following exposure to the second antigen are induced as the result of a strong proliferative response to the first (competitor) antigen. It was found, however, that significant inhibition of the primary proliferative response to picryl chloride, by pretreatment of mice with either picryl sulphonic acid or 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene, failed to prevent picryl chloride inducing antigenic competition for oxazolone. Our studies suggest that following topical exposure to potent skin allergens events other than proliferation in draining lymph nodes induce active immunoregulatory processes, one consequence of which is the appearance of antigenic competition.