Precipitin production in chickens. XVIL The effect of massive injections of bovine serum albumin at hatching on subsequent antibody production.

Abstract

Summary 1.Very large intraperitoneal injections of bovine serum albumin given within 50 hr after hatching resulted in a reduced antibody response when the animals were subsequently reinjected. 2.The unresponsiveness to the homologous antigen decreased with age since groups of 12- and 22-week-old chickens from the same hatch gave higher antibody titers than the 6-week groups. 3.The degree of responsiveness seems to depend upon the size of dose given at hatching. 4.The antibody response to a heterologous antigen, human γ globulin, was not affected.