Studies on organ specificity. IV. Production of rabbit thyroid antibodies in the rabbit.

Abstract

Summary 1.Crude saline extracts of rabbit thyroids proved to be antigenic for rabbits. The technique of immunization consisted of the intradermal injection of 0.05 ml of a mixture of tissue extract plus Freund adjuvants into each of the 4 footpads in the rabbit. The percentage of rabbits showing circulating antibodies varied from experiment to experiment. 2.Rabbit thyroid antibodies were demonstrated by complement fixation and precipitation techniques. In addition, erythrocytes tanned according to Boyden9s procedure and coated with thyroid extracts provided a sensitive tool for the demonstration of rabbit thyroid antibodies in high antiserum dilution. 3.The thyroid antibodies are tissue-specific rather than group-specific, reacting with the thyroid extracts of any rabbit tested regardless of whether the rabbit itself produced thyroid antibodies or failed to do so. 4.Thyroidectomized, or partially thyroidectomized, rabbits injected with extracts of their own thyroid glands produced antibodies reacting with their own thyroid extracts as well as with thyroid extracts of any other rabbit tested.