Abstract
Summary
Repeated injections of rabbit antiserum against the lymphoid cells of mouse thynius (ALS) were found to increase markedly the evidence of tumors in resistant strains of mice neonatally infected with polyoma virus. In this system the effects of ALS are similar to those of early thymectomy. The BALB/c mice receiving repeated injections of ALS and infected intraperitoneally with Moloney leukemogenic virus (MLV) when 21 days old showed an increased incidence of lymphoid neoplasms as compared to that in untreated controls infected at the same age. The majority of tumors in the treated animals were reticulum cell sarcomas, type A, developing subcutaneously at the site of injection of the ALS 3-6 weeks after infection with MLV. Early thymectomy markedly decreased the incidence of leukemias in BALB/c mice infected with MLV when 3 weeks old. In this system the effects of ALS are the opposite of those produced by thymectomy. It is concluded that the thymic elements required for neoplastic conversion by MLV are not eliminated by ALS, which may alter the pathology of the induced tumors by a combination of immunosuppression and capacity to stimulate the proliferation of primitive lymphoid cells.
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