Attempts to modulate the immune response to a hapten-carrier complex with various hapten-containing compounds

The immune response to a hapten-carrier conjugate appears to be a complex phenomenon where reactions of the T-cell population are not restricted to the carrier and where the reactions of the B-cell population are not limited to the hapten determinant of the antigen molecule. To get a better understanding of the different cell interactions during the immune response to a hapten-carrier complex, the effects of immunogenic or tolerogenic injections of various hapten-containing compounds on the responses induced by immunization with the same hapten coupled to protein carriers were studied. The results indicate that T cells involved in delayed hypersensitivity and T cells involved in contact dermatitis could belong to distinct subclasses and confirm that hapten and carrier moieties of the antigen molecule could compete, probably at the macrophage level, for both delayed hypersensitivity to the carrier and antibody synthesis to the hapten.