Intestinal transport of sulfanilic acid in rats immunized with protein-sulfanilic acid conjugate.

Intestinal transport of sulfanilic acid was examined by means of an in vitro everted sac technique in rats immunized with a bovine gamma-globulin-sulfanilic acid conjugate. At a low concentration of sulfanilic acid, the intestinal transport of sulfanilic acid was decreased in rats immunized with bovine gamma-globulin-sulfanilic acid conjugate. This phenomenon was dose dependent and antigen specific, since there was no difference in the transport of sulfanilic acid at a high concentration and of an unrelated hapten. These results suggested that parenteral immunization impaired not only the intestinal transport of macromolecular antigens, as previously shown, but also the transport of the low molecular weight hapten, sulfanilic acid.