Reactivity of neuro-antigen-sensitized lymphocytes against syngeneic, allogeneic and tolerated allogeneic neural tissue.

Lymphocytes reactive against cultured cerebellar cells were collected from rats that had been sensitized against a variety of preparations. While cells with in vitro reactivity were invariably present in lymph from rats which were to develop encephalomyelitis, the reverse did not apply. Challenge with either neural or non-neural allogeneic tissue sensitized effectively against allogeneic neural tissue. Challenge of homograft-tolerant rats with either syngeneic or tolerated allogeneic spinal cord sensitized against neural tissues of tolerated strain.