REDUCTION IN ANIMAL NUMBERS REQUIRED FOR ANTISERA PRODUCTION USING THE SUBCUTANEOUS CHAMBER TECHNIQUE IN RABBITS

The purpose of this study was to determine if the subcutaneous chamber technique would reduce the number of rabbits required for antisera pr oduction by enabling serial use of individual animals for multiple ant igens. Rabbits were assigned to immunization protocols against two ant igens in series that involved combinations of chamber implantation, Fr eund's adjuvant and injection of antigen either by the subcutaneous ro ute or by direct inoculation into the chamber. Results indicate the sy stemic immune response to both antigens achieved similar magnitude and duration by use of either Freund's adjuvant or direct inoculation of antigen into the chamber, suggesting that chamber use may be able to r eplace use of Complete Freund's adjuvant for many antigens. Rabbits re -used for a second antigen were equally successful in production of si gnificant titres in both serum and chamber fluid without evidence of e ither a significant inflammatory response due to the chronic presence of the implant or a decrease in the yield of antisera harvested from t he chamber. These results support the advantages of chamber use as rep orted by others and demonstrate that the chamber technique can signifi cantly extend the productive life of an individual animal that would o therwise be euthanized following a single use in antisera production.