Humoral immune response of rabbits to acholeplasmal lipoglycans.

Lipoglycans extracted from Acholeplasma species with hot aqueous phenol were immunogenic for rabbits when introduced by an appropriate method. All lipoglycans examined elicited antibody associated with a heavy, 2-mercaptoethanol-sensitive immunoglobulin fraction when inoculated intravenously adsorbed to autologous rabbit erythrocytes. This antibody was specific for the Acholeplasma species from which the lipoglycan was extracted. Extensive immunization of these animals with acholeplasmal lipoglycans produced significant increases in sheep erythrocyte hemolysin. Some, but not all, Acholeplasma species yielded lipoglycans that were immunogenic when emulsified with Freund complete adjuvant and introduced via the footpad into rabbits. Such animals produced antibodies corresponding to the M and G immunoglobulin classes that reacted with both homologous and heterologous acholeplasmal lipoglycans by precipitation in immunodiffusion as well as passive hemagglutination. None of the animals inoculated demonstrated a significant anamnestic response after booster injections either intravenously or via the footpads.