GENERAL LEUCOCYTIC RESPONSE OF THE GUINEA PIG DURING THE REACTION OF ARTIFICIAL IMMUNITY IN EXPERIMENTAL TUBERCULOUS INFECTION

Guinea pigs have been rendered relatively immune against infection with virulent tubercle bacilli by preliminary inoculation with a suitable quantity of avirulent tubercle bacilli. Blood counts on these animals show that associated with the immune reaction there is a definite general leucocytic response characterized by an absolute increase in the total count, with an absolute and relative increase in the lymphocytes. The period of greatest activity coincides with that known to be the period of greatest reaction, based on anatomical evidence during the course of infection following this method of immunization. Moreover, blood counts made on animals inoculated with avirulent tubercle bacilli alone show an increase in the circulating lymphocytes during the period of greatest reaction to the infection, while blood counts on guinea pigs inoculated with virulent bacilli alone show an erratic course in which the polymorphonuclear forms are much increased, though not regularly so. These results indicate a parallelism between lymphoid activity and resistance of the animals to tuberculous infection, and suggest an association of lymphocytes with the factors determining this resistance, a relation which warrants consideration of the blood picture in the clinical study of tuberculous infection.