Specific pathogen-free BALB/cAn mice are refractory to plasmacytoma induction by pristane

Forty to sixty percent of conventionally (CON) raised BALB/cAnPt (BALB/c) mice develop plasmacytomas (PCT) when injected with three 0.5 ml i.p. injections of pristane. When CON-BALB/c mice were converted to specific pathogen free (SPF) status by foster nursing caesarean delivered term mice on C3H/HeN SPF mothers and maintained under strict SPF conditions, less than 5% of the mice developed pristane-induced PCT. FACS analysis of the cellular composition of oil granulomatous tissue revealed a dramatic influx of CD4+ cells in CON mice that was significantly reduced in SPF mice. Moreover, while both CON and SPF mice had similar patterns of gut flora colonization, only CON-BALB/c mice had occasional circulating antibodies to mouse hepatitis virus and Sendai viruses. Maintenance in strict SPF conditions, therefore, results in a prolonged state of relative Ag deprivation and a failure to continuously activate new T and B cell populations. The results suggest that PCT formation depends on exogenous antigenic stimulation and that the presence of minimal gut flora is insufficient to render these mice susceptible to PCT induction.