MILK FROM HYPERIMMUNIZED DAIRY-COWS AS A SOURCE OF A NOVEL BIOLOGICALRESPONSE MODIFIER

Laboratory investigations have established that hyperimmunization of d airy cows with a polyvalent bacterial vaccine results in the secretion of biologically active substances into the milk. One of these factors , a low molecular weight anti-inflammatory agent (HIMF), has been stud ied in detail. The evidence supports the hypothesis that HIMF suppress es inflammation by inhibiting neutrophil emigration. Additionally, the experiments suggested that HIMF was capable of modifying the host res ponse to infection and lymphocyte function. These effects have conside rable clinical potential and were therefore investigated further. Intr avenous administration of HIMF to rats with subcutaneous E. coli infec tion reduced the influx of neutrophils in the early phase of infection by as much as 73%. HIMF suppressed the host vs. graft but not the gra ft vs. host reaction and resulted in an increase in spleen weight and the number of splenic lymphocytes. The lymphocyte response to concanav alin A was also abrogated by the agent. These data indicate that HIMF may be useful for the inhibition of tissue destructive infectious proc esses, and in situations where suppression of lymphocyte function is d esirable.