Physiologic and behavioral assessment of rabbits immunized with Freund's Complete Adjuvant

Although the use of Freund's Complete Adjuvant (FCA) has been discouraged f or the production of polyclonal antibodies, little clinical evidence suppor ts the belief that FCA necessarily affects the well-being of immunized rabb its. We designed the present study to determine whether immunization at mul tiple sites with small volumes of Freund's adjuvant affects rabbit well-bei ng. We injected 18 female New Zealand White rabbits (six animals per group) with antigen in FCA, Freund's Incomplete Adjuvant, or physiologic saline i n the following volumes and routes: 0.02 to 0.03 mt intradermally in each o f 30 to 40 sites and 0.1 mL, subcutaneously iu each of two sites. The body weight, temperature, complete blood count, and behavior of the rabbits in t he home cage, upon handling, and in an open field did not differ significan tly among the immunization groups during the 7-week assessment period. Only the degree of induration around injection sites differed: as expected, FCA induced the greatest response at the injection sites, but the sites were n either ulcerative nor necrotic, nor did palpation of the sites induce any a pparent discomfort to the rabbits. We conclude that FCA may be used safely and humanely in rabbits if small volumes are injected intradermally or subc utaneously in multiple sites.