Plasmodium chabaudi in mice. Adoptive transfer of immunity with enriched populations of spleen T and B lymphocytes

Thymectomized NIH and C57BL mice were more susceptible to Plasmodium chabaudi than controls, indicating a role for T cells in acquired immunity to the parasite. Enriched populations of T and B cells were prepared from the spleens of immune mice using nylon-wool columns, and were adoptively transferred to syngeneic non-irradiated mice or mice irradiated with 600 or 800 rad. Some immunity could usually be transferred with immune T, B and glass-wool (g.w.) filtered spleen cell populations. In the heavily irradiated mice g.w. filtered immune spleen cells gave the best protection and the immune T cells the least. Preliminary attempts to show synergistic activity between immune T and B cells in irradiated mice were not successful. (author)