Suppression of lymphocyte blastogenesis by sera from calves transported by road

The effect of sera from 4-h road-transported calves on mitogen-induced blastogenesis of bovine lymphocytes was investigated. Sera collected just after transportation showed a significant suppression (P less than 0.05) on blastogenesis. The immunosuppressive activity was reduced from those sera when they were treated with dextran-coated charcoal. Fractionation of the sera by ultrafiltration revealed that the activity was mainly concentrated in the fractions of molecular weights less than 50 kD.