Autoimmunity in experimental Trypanosoma congolense infections of rabbits

Autoimmunity in rabbits with experimental Trypanosoma congolense infections was investigated. Complement-fixing (CF) and precipitating autoantibodies to normal allogeneic and autologous tissues were found in the sera of all infected rabbits tested; the titers of CF autoantibody occurring during infection were significantly higher than normally occurring titers of autoantibody in pre-infection serum samples. Autoantibody did not cross-react with trypanosome antigens, and Wassermann antibody was not detected in normal or infected rabbit sera. Passive transfer of autoantibody to normal rabbits did not produce observable pathology or death. Physicochemical methods of analysis revealed that the autoantibody was exclusively of the immunoglobulin M class. That cell-mediated autoimmunity to normal tissue antigens did not occur during T. congolense infections was shown by histological analyses, skin tests, migration inhibitory factor, and skin reactive factor tests.