Purpose: The importance of the spleen to the induction of anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID) in mice has been known for some time. Removal of the spleen within the first 4 days of injecting antigen into anterior chamber can abolish immune deviation and result in immunity. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of spleen in ACAID in other different species of animals.
Methods: After splenectomy and sham-splenectomy, bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a soluble antigen was inoculated into the anterior chamber (AC) of different animals (rat, rabbit and monkey) respectively. Recipient animals were immunized with BSA and complete Freund's adjuvant. Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) was assessed by skin challenge. The maintenance time of deviant immune response was evaluated in the fixed interval.
Results: All the animals with receiving intraocular antigen inoculation, both in splenectomized group and in sham-splenectomized group, did not display DTH reaction. In addition, the maintenance time of immune deviation in both groups after AC inoculation of antigen was not significantly different. In contrast, all the animals without receiving intraocular antigen inoculation, both in splenectomized group and in sham-sple-nectomized group, displayed positive DTH reaction.
Conclusions: The spleen may not play an important role in the induction and maintenance of ACAID in rat, rabbit and monkey. These data suggest that as the evolution progresses, the function of spleen may be replaced by other lymphatic organs.