[Effect of adjuvants on the cellular function of the monocytic phagocytosing system]

The authors studied the effect of adjuvants differing by origin and physico-chemical nature (complete Freund's adjuvant, S. typhi endoxin, cadmium sulfate, iron trichloride) on the ingestion and digestion of erythrocytes of the sheep by the cells of monocytic phagocytizing system, on the persistence of the antigen in these cells, its complexation with the RNA-macrophages and the function of their lysosomal apparatus. The adjuvants change the phagocytizing capacity of the macrophages only in their administration in vivo. Administration to the animals of Freund adjuvant and of the S. typhic endotoxin somewhat increased the ingestion of the antigens, whereas the administration of FeCl3 and CdSO4 failed to change it or even somewhat decreased it. The capacity of ingestion of the antigen in vitro in macrophages obtained from the animals treated with the adjuvants was changed in comparison with the normal. All the adjuvants tested produced a marked action on the lysosomal apparatus of the cells of the monocytic phagocytizing system: they changed the activity of catepsin, promoted the accumulation and the retention in the lysosomes of the highly immunogenic fractions of the antigen, and increased the permeability (except the CdSO4 of the lysosomal membranes in the cells of the antigen binding with the RNA of the cells of the peritoneal exudate or the splenic cells.