Immune response of guinea pig tympanic membrane

The authors present the results of their experiment on the immune response of the guinea pig tympanic membrane. The first step was to develop an antiserum in the rabbit from the guinea pig tympanic membrane (RAGPTM). The lamina propria was used and IgG was identified as the main constituent of this antiserum. In their initial experiment, the RAGPTM IgG seemed to be specific to the acellular connective tissues of the respiratory tract and TM. The experiment presented here is concerned with the immune response of the guinea pig tympanic membrane. The animals were sensitized by intracardiac injection with the antiserum, and within one hour the right TM was traumatized in diverse fashions (bacteriological, chemical, mechanical traumas). The left TM served as a negative control. Animals were sacrificed at 24 hours, 7 days and 21 days. Immunofluorescence staining, complement studies (C23) and immunoperoxidase techniques were used on the TM. It appears that the GPTM can be antigenic in the rabbit. The right TMs of the sensitized guinea pigs reacted differently in the sense that there seems to be homing of the RAGPTM IgG to the site of trauma and that the complement participates in the reaction at least in the first week. The lamina propria of the TM is the site of the immune response. This work will need more elaborate studies but allows us to address different questions concerning the possible role of the combination of trauma and sensitization in conditions clinically involving the TM and middle ear.