A radioisotopic method to measure delayed type hypersensitivity in the mouse. I. Studies in sensitized and normal mice.

Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) lesions have been difficult to evaluate objectively in the mouse because they are usually assessed in terms of an increase in footpad swelling or ear thickness. We have developed a radioisotopic method which not only reduces the observer's error but also gives an objective measurement of the cellular activity in the lesions. In brief, 10 mul of the test antigen is injected intradermally into the left pinna and either nothing or the same volume of a control solution into the right. 10 h later, a 2-muCi pulse of 5-iodo-2'deoxyuridine-125I is given intravenously, the ears cut off at the hairline 16 h later and the radioactivity counted in a gamma spectrometer. The following was obtained as evidence that the increased radioactivity of the left pinna over the right was a measure of the extent of a DTH response: (1) the ear reaction was delayed in mice without serum antibodies becoming maximum at 24 h; (2) there was a mononuclear cell infiltration in the left pinna and autoradiographs revealed radioactive label bound to these cells; (3) athymic mice could not develop a 24-hour ear reaction, and (4) antigens known not to activate T cells did not elicit the ear response. Cell transfer studies will be described in a subsequent paper. Different sensitization regimes were required with different antigens in order to obtain the highest levels of DTH as tested by the ear response, and the maximal ear reaction occurred at different days. The ear reaction showed the specificity expected of a DTH response.