Modification of humoral immune response in chickens following treatment with carrageenan.

Carrageenan treatment of chickens resulted in splenomegaly and enlargement of bursa but had no effect on the thymus. The dose and route of administration had a profound effect on humoral immune response to Brucella abortus and sheep red blood cells. Antibody response to B. abortus was either unaffected or significantly enhanced, whereas response to red blood cells was severely suppressed. Furthermore, delineation of the class of antibody response affected by the treatment, using 2-mercaptoethanol, suggested that there was a selective inhibition of IgG response to the T dependent antigen.