Cellular immunity in casein-induced amyloidosis.

Guinea-pigs receiving multiple subcutaneous injections of casein at first developed a cellular immune response to casein but this rapidly waned when the animals became amyloidotic. By contrast, cellular immune responsiveness to non-specific antigens at first appeared to be diminished but later returned to normal under the same conditions. These results suggest that tolerance to a specific immunogen may play an important role in the pathogenesis of casein-induced amyloidosis.