The culturing of pig peripheral blood lymphocytes in microelisa wells for the direct measurement of a specific antibody response.

A simple but sensitive method for measuring the in vitro antibody response of cells from pig peripheral blood to a specific antigen is described. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from lysozyme immunized pigs are cultured in the presence of lysozyme for five days, then washed and transferred to lysozyme coated wells of a microelisa plate and incubated for 18 hr. After washing the cells off the microelisa wells, the amount of pig anti-lysozyme immunoglobulin produced was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This assay allowed for the monitoring of the appearance of antibody-producing cells in the peripheral blood. In addition, the in vitro response of individual pigs to lysozyme correlated with serum antibody titers to lysozyme but not with the in vitro proliferative response of T cells to lysozyme. The assay provides an in vitro system for studying immunodeficiency in piglets and the general mechanisms behind a low immune response to a specific antigen.