Transfer of experimental allergic orchitis with immune RNA studies in vivo.

Ribonucleic acid extracts (RNA) obtained from the lymph nodes and spleens of guinea pigs, which were immunized with testicular antigen emulsified in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA), were injected intraperitoneally into normal guinea pigs. The transferred guinea pigs developed a delayed hypersensitivity to sperm antigens and testicular lesions which resembled the lesions obtained in the donor RNA guinea pigs. When the transfer was performed with RNA extracted from guinea pigs immunized with FCA alone or with 'immune' RNA treated with Ribonuclease, neither cellular immunity nor testicular lesions were observed.