Enhanced humoral immune response in rats by hyaluronic acid

The effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) on antibody responses to egg albumin, dog albumin and birch pollen proteins, was studied in rats. The highest antibody responses to dog and egg albumin were obtained in rats immunized with a coprecipitate of the antigen with HA. However, pretreatment of rats with a subcutaneous injection of HA up to three (3) days prior to the priming injection of dog albumin also significantly enhanced the secondary antibody responses to that antigen. Possible explanations of this stimulatory effect on the humoral immune response are discussed.