Transfer of experimental allergic neuritis with P2-reactive T-cell lines.

Experimental allergic neuritis (EAN) was induced in normal Lewis rats by systemic passive transfer of T-cell lines responding to P2 protein. These cells had predominantly helper phenotype and could induce EAN within 7 days following adoptive transfer. There was no anti-P2 antibody response in the recipients of the P2-reactive cells recovered from donors with high anti-P2 antibody levels. This study provides direct evidence that T cells are important for the induction of EAN. Furthermore, there was no evidence of a pathogenic role for anti-P2 antibody in passive EAN.