[Changes in the amount of sialic acids during B-lymphocyte blast transformation]

Albino mice were immunized with a suspension of sheep erythrocytes. On the fifth day the animals were killed and B-lymphocytes were isolated from the spleen tissue. Aminoff's method was employed to determine the amount of sialic acids. Normal lymphocytes, obtained from unimmunized animals, were used as controls. It was found that stimulation raised the level of sialic acids by about 26 per cent as against their amount in normal limphocytes. The biologic character of the phenomenon observed is briefly discused, stating that it corroborates the concept that the binding of immunogenic agents with the cell occurs in a "stimulated" status.