Cyclic antibody formation to polyglycerophosphate in normal and injected rats

Normal adult Sprague-Dawley rats were bled serially over a 30-week period and their sera were examined for antibodies to polyglycerophosphate (PGP) by a standardized passive hemolysis test. Levels of "natural" antibodies to PGP fluctuated during this period with a majority of animals exhibiting pronounced cycling of serum antibody levels, however, the individual cycles were not synchronized with each other. Feeding of radiolabeled Gram-positive bacilli to these animals and examination of lymphoid tissue by liquid scintillation counting revealed that the antigen persisted mainly in the mesenteric lymph nodes. A second group of rats was injected i.v. with radiolabeled Gram-positive bacilli and tissues were examined for plaque-forming cells (PFC) of PGP specificity, and the sera were examined by passive hemolysis. Cycling of both anti-PGP antibodies and PFC became synchronized in the injected animals with peaks of serum antibody evident at 16 and 28 days post-injection and splenic PFC peaks at 4 and 16 days post-injection. Cycling was also observed in the mesenteric lymph nodes and bone marrow Examination of lymphoid tissue from the rats injected i.v. revealed that antigen introduced by this route also perisisted mainly in the mesenteric lymph nodes, This report demonstrates individual cycling of natural responses to environmental antigen and to the same determinant in secondary responses, indicating its importance as a regulatory mechanism.