Adjuvant properties of retinol on IgE production in mice.

Mice treated with varying doses of retinol in Tween 80 showed no primary IgE response to ovalbumin in saline; however, reimmunization with ovalbumin in saline produced high IgE titers. Retinol-treated mice immunized with ovalbumin absorbed to Al (OH)3 also showed no primary IgE response, but high secondary responses. Significantly, animals treated with Tween 80 only prior to immunization with ovalbumin adsorbed to Al(OH)3 also demonstrated no primary IgE response, indicating that Tween 80 inhibited the primary IgE response.