Passive Transfer of Transplantation Immunity Iii. Inbred Guinea Pigs*,

In guinea pigs, when tubercufin sensitivity was passively transferred by lymphoid ceils sensitized to tubercle bacilli and labeled with tritiated thymidine, the transferred ceils were readily identified at the PPD skin test site (1). Further, the transfer of tuberculin sensitivity was not achieved by transferring BCG-sensitized cells enclosed in Millipore chambers (2). In mice, however, when transplantation immunity was passively transferred by lymphoid ceils sensitized to homologous tissues and labeled with tritiated thymidine, few or no tagged cells were observed in the skin rejection sites. In addition, successful accelerated rejection of homologous skin grafts was accomplished by transferring cells, sensitized to the homologous skin, enclosed in Millipore chambers (3). The differences observed in the transfer of tuberculin sensitivity and transplantation immunity in guinea pigs and mice respectively might therefore have been due to the use of two different species. This investigation was designed to study transplantation immunity in inbred guinea pigs by (a) the passive transfer of cells sensitized to homologous tissues and labeled with tritiated thymidine, and (b) the passive transfer of sensitized cells enclosed in Millipore chambers. The results were similar to those in mice and corroborated that different immunologic mechanisms were operative in transplantation immunity and tuberculin sensitivity.