IMMUNOGLOBULINS FROM RATS THAT ARE RESISTANT TO ADJUVANT ARTHRITIS SUPPRESS THE DISEASE IN ARTHRITIS-SUSCEPTIBLE RATS

The therapeutic effect of high doses of polyclonal immunoglobulins has been well established in various B cell-associated autoimmune disease s. In the present work we have examined the effect of low doses of imm unoglobulins in adjuvant arthritis, a T cell-associated disease in the Lewis rat. Lewis rats were treated with purified rat immunoglobulins as well as their Fc and F(ab')(2) fragments and their protective effec t on adjuvant arthritis was evaluated. We found that early as well as late treatment with low doses of rat immunoglobulins induced refractor iness to disease induction. The effect was found to be carried out by the F(ab')(2) part of the immunoglobulins and could be adsorbed by aff inity purification on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The protective antib odies were present in Fisher and BN rats that are resistant to adjuvan t arthritis, but not in the arthritis susceptible Lewis and Wistar str ains. We suggest that resistance to autoimmune arthritis is associated with the presence of protective immunoglobulins and that their effect is carried out through the antigen recognition part of the molecule.