Lethal irradiation: treatment with immune cell populations.

Lethally irradiated mice have been successfully treated by the inoculation of allogeneic spleen cell populations, without the development of a secondary graft-versus-host (GVH) reaction. This has been accomplished by eliminating those cells responsible for GVH reaction, using a density gradient ultracentrifugation technique. The therapeutic potential for this technique is great. It may well provide a modus operandi to treat patients exposed to otherwise lethal doses of radiation, as well as facilitate therapy of patients with cancer and immune deficiency diseases.