Histologic changes in mouse lymph nodes after treatment with antitheta-globulin.

The DBA/2 mice were treated with 4 successive subcutaneous injections of rabbit anti-theta-gammaglobulin and the histology of the axillary lymph nodes was studied 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 21 days after the last dose. The histology of the lymph nodes was assessed according to the standardized reporting system of Cottier et al. (1973). The histologic findings were compared with those found in mice treated with anti-thymus-gammaglobulin, normal rabbit gammaglobulin and those in untreated DBA/2 mice. Anti-theta-gammaglobulin was found to be a potent suppressor of the small lymphocytes in the lymph node paracortical areas. At the same time, it elicited a strong humoral immune response in the nodes manifested as proliferation of large pyroninophilic cells and plasma cells in the medulla and germinal centers. The standardized reporting system of Cottier et al. was found to be extremely suitable for assessing the histology of the experimental animals' lymph nodes and its acceptance into general use is strongly advocated.