Plasma Cells in the Reaction against Rabbit Tissue Homografts

Abstract

THE well-known correlation between the breakdown of homografts and their invasion by lymphocytes^1,2 has acquired new interest because of current views on the role of lymphocytes in the manufacture and transport of antibodies³. It has been shown that the breakdown of homografts results from a process of active immunization of the host⁴ ; and since there has been a failure to demonstrate appreciable antibody in the serum⁵, it seemed probable that the lymphocytes were the instruments of destruction. More recently, plasma cells have been put forward as producers of antibody^6,7, and this hypothesis suggested a search for these cells in homografts by employing the Unna–Pappenheim stain (methyl green pyronin). With routine staining methods only a few mature plasma cells were identified among the lymphocytes in the period before graft breakdown.