Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in agammaglobulinemic chickens.

White Leghorn chickens were subjected to bursectomy and total body irradiation at hatching, thus rendering them agammaglobulinemic. At 4 weeks of age, these chickens and control chickens received lyophilized bovine spinal cord emulsified with complete Freund's adjuvant. Agammaglobulinemic chickens developed the lesions of allergic encephalomyelitis with the same frequency and intensity as the controls. Our findings support the contention that antibodies are not necessary for the development of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis.