Eosinophil Response to Toxoids in Actively and Passively Immunized Mice. ∗

Abstract

Summary

I. Intraperitoneal injections of tetanus and diphtheria toxoid into actively immunized mice produce an accumulation of; eosinophil cells in the peritoneal fluid which reaches a peak at 4 days and lasts for at least 10 days. The degree of increase depends upon the dose of toxoid used. The local eosinophilia does not occur in non-immunized mice or in mice passively immunized with heterologous antibody. 2. The experiments suggest that the local eosinophilia is due neither to the antigen-antibody reaction nor to the accompanying inflammatory syndrome, but to an early stage of antibody formation during the secondary response.