Adjuvant effects of iota, kappa, and lambda carrageenans on antibody production in BALB/c mice.

Carrageenan, in its three fractionated forms iota, kappa and lambda, is able to stimulate in BALB/c mice the production of IgE, IgGl and those antibodies producing passive hemagglutination to ovalbumin. The adjuvant effect of carrageenan is more evident in the secondary response, and the iota form is more effective than the kappa and the lambda forms. The data are compatible with the possibility that adjuvanticity of carrageenan can be, at least partly, correlated to its antimacrophage activity.