Suppression of malaria-induced autoimmunity by immunization with cryoglobulins.

Cryoglobulins obtained from malaria-infected (Plasmodium berghei berghei) Balb/c mice were administered intraperitoneally to naive Balb/c mice. Ten days or 9 months following cryoglobulin administration, the naive mice were infected with malaria. Comparison of sera from cryoglobulin-treated malaria-infected mice with sera from control infected mice revealed that pretreatment with cryoglobulins resulted in (1) reduced levels of circulating immune complexes; (2) reduced levels of autoantibodies reactive with nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens; and (3) suppressed development of cryoglobulinemia. Furthermore, the effect of cryoglobulins was long lasting, suggesting that recipient mice may have been actively immunized against autoantibody production.