The Effects of Methionine and Ethionine on Antibody Formation in Primates

[摘要] The study of antibody formation in primates and its modification by nutritional imbalances and by the metabolic antagonist ethionine was undertaken to acquire information about the effect of protein malnutrition on immunization and to study the control of the immune response by a metabolic antagonist. Cebus albifron monkeys on a normal diet responded well to the synthetic antigen poly Glu52Lys33Tyr15 (no. 3) (700 to 1000 µg Ab N/ml). Eight of the 91 monkeys immunized died in anaphylaxis shortly after the second injection of antigen. The major pathology of this anaphylactic syndrome was necrosis and hemorrhage in the liver.The primary antibody response elicited by the antigen in Freund's adjuvant was resistant to methionine deficiency, methionine excess and ethionine administration. The early secondary response elicited by the antigen in NaCl-phosphate buffer was depressed both by ethionine and by excess methionine; it was resistant to methionine deficiency alone. The late secondary response was unaffected by methionine deficiency plus ethionine or by previous administration of a methionine excess diet; however, previous treatment with a methionine excess diet plus ethionine caused an enhanced antibody response.Total protein deficiency severe enough to cause death from malnutrition did not affect the late secondary antibody response.The percentage of antibody in the γ-globulin fraction varied under different circumstances. The primary and early secondary responses showed an increase in total γ-globulin production as well as an increase in antibody production. In the late secondary response the total level of γ-globulin remained constant, but the amount of antibody in it increased. In general, the proportion of antibody was increased by methionine deficiency or total protein deficiency and decreased by the administration of ethionine or of excess methionine when compared to the control animals.Thus, the early antibody responses (primary and early secondary) were more profoundly influenced by dietary alterations and by metabolic antagonists than the late secondary response, and this finding suggests that the antibody synthesizing mechanism becomes more stable with time.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）